Despite institutional participants bringing in fresh funds into the system, the BSE-30 share sensitive index failed to sustain the crucial barrier of 3,000 points on account of speculative sales at pharma and select pivotals. In the final countdown the index closed at 2,964.87 points, registering a net loss of 38.38 points.

FIIs and domestic institutions were net buyers on the local bourses. Figures released by the exchange shows that FIIs were net buyers on the BSE to the tune of Rs 22 crore, while on the NSE they were reportedly net sellers to the tune of Rs 27 lakh. Similarly, domestic institutions were buyers on the BSE to the tune of Rs 10 crore, while on the NSE their net purchases were pegged at Rs 2.5 crore.

According to sources, FIIs placed buy orders at the counters of NIIT, ICI, Bhel, HPCL and CochinRefinery. Local institutional purchases were pegged at HPCL, MTNL, SBI, Madras Refinery and Gujarat Ambuja. ``While market was awaiting a trigger point, Reliance provided one,'' said a BSE broker, in the light of the roller coaster move registered at the Reliance counter, which reflected on the steep fall in the index towards the last phase.

Reliance clocked a phenomenal volume of over 1.27 crore shares on the BSE and 1.89 crore shares on the NSE, with the stock being traded in the band of Rs 119 and Rs 123.80, the intra-day's high and low to finally close at Rs 119.50, witnessing a net loss of 1.3 per cent. Interestingly, among the pivotals, ITC recorded a sharp decline in the volumes to a low of 10.72 lakh shares on the BSE. The stock crashed from a high of Rs 728.50 to closed at Rs 713.25. The MTNL counter registered a negotiated deal of 50,000 shares at 12.16 pm on the BSE transacted at the price of Rs 192. According to market sources, the stock were purchased by a leading institutional player.

Thecabinet's failure to decide on amendments to the patents act provided an opportunity to the bear operators. Among the pharma stocks, Ranbaxy was traded on the NSE at an ex-bonus price of Rs 273 registering a loss of 3.2 per cent, while on the BSE where the stock is traded cum-bonus, it closed at Rs 526.75 registering a net decline of over 4 per cent. Similarly, stocks like E-Merck, Rhone Poulenc, Burroughs Wellcome, Fulford and Glaxo which had hogged the limelight on account of one sided purchase trades, faced a mass scale liquidation at higher levels. Among the pharma counters only Hoechst improved slightly to close at Rs 375.80, registering a net rise of 0.15 per cent. Boots India registered a fall of 6.36 per cent to close at Rs 433.55.On the negotiated front, stocks like BPL, Emerck, Bajaj Auto, Ashok Leyland, Nestle and Reliance registered cross deals of over 10,000 shares each. Most of these transactions were structured at a discount to the prevailing market price.