Sensex tumbles 121 pts as punters book profit

Sensex tumbles 121 pts as punters book profit
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

MUMBAI, FEB 15: Stock markets ended lower on Tuesday as investors took profits after last week's stunning gains. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex tumbled by another 121 points following massive bull liquidation by market players.

Squaring pressures on the last day of account on the National Stock Exchange and margin pressures on select infotech shares also weighed on sentiment, dealers said. "The market was overstretched. It rose from 5,000 to 6,000 almost non-stop. So it is a healthy correction," said a broker. He said additional margins imposed by Sebi, effective from Wednesday, will affect share prices in the next few days. "The margins imposed by SEBI will take 2-3 days to adjust and the market could correct further," he said.

SEBI has imposed an additional five per cent margin on ten leading info-tech shares with effect from Wednesday. These include: Zee Telefilms, Infosys Technologies, NIIT, Satyam Computer Services, Himachal Futuristic, Pentamedia Graphics, Global Tele-Systems, Digital Equipment,Silverline Technologies and DSQ Software.

Reflecting the downtrend, BSE Sensex which opened at 5797.31 points (lower by nearly 127 points from the previous close of 5924.31 points) shot up to touch 5941.88 points and then again fell down sharply to touch the day's low of 5774.32 points before closing at 5803.19 points, showing a net loss of 121.12 points.

``Margin pressures and overnight losses in Indian ADRs listed on the Nasdaq affected sentiment in infotech stocks and various frontline stocks in the sector ended lower,'' said a broker. Infosys Technologies fell Rs 779.95 and closed at Rs 9,980 tracking huge losses in its ADR on Monday. Other losers in the sector were Visualsoft down Rs 351 at Rs 8,499, NIIT Rs 235 at Rs 2,740, SSI Rs 147 at Rs 4,288 and Polaris Rs 137.60 at Rs 2,036.40. The IT sector also yielded some gainers on fund support and portfolio buying. These were Wipro up by Rs 524 at Rs 7,074.40, Sonata Software up Rs 201.40 at Rs 2,719.10.