Sensex nosedives over 200 pts in the opening trade

Mumbai, Mar 27:The sensitive index of Bombay Stock Exchange today further extended the losses and slipped 203.80 points to 15,883.03 on weak global cues in the opening trade.

The benchmark Sensex opened the session in red below 16K at 15,950.29 after closing at 16,086.83 in the previous session on and further slid into deep negative zone on extended selling pressure in the market. Meanwhile, Nifty index of National Stock Exchange slipped nearly 50 points at 4,780 in the early trade. The market slipped further in the mid-morning trade with IT stocks declining amidst selling pressure. Realty stocks followed the down trend. Tata Motors slumped after the reports of its acquisition of foreign automobile brands. Mid and Small caps were marginally down and overall the market breadth was negative.

Index heavyweights like Reliance Industries (RIL) fell 2.14 per cent to Rs 2249.50, Tata Motors slipped 7.12 per cent to Rs 631 on concerns that its borrowing cost may go up due to funding of the acquisition, which in the short term would impact the net profit of Tata.

Satyam Computer was down by 2.42 per cent at Rs 403, Infosys Technologies slipped 2.42 per cent at Rs 1459.90, Larsen&Toubro declined 1.75 per cent at Rs 2993, Housing Development Finance Corporation slid 1.48 per cent at Rs 2621 and Jaiprakash Associates skid 1.46 per cent at Rs 222.75.

As per provisional data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth Rs 393.91 crore yesterday. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net sellers of shares worth Rs 108.65 crore on the same day.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 282.32 crore in the futures and options segment yesterday. They were net buyers of index futures to the tune of Rs 103.13 crore and bought index options worth Rs 289.42 crore.

They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 114.23 crore and bought stock options worth Rs 4.01 crore.

UNI