Sensex opens low; down by 112 points

Mumbai, Aug 26: The key benchmark Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday, Aug 26 resumed lower at 14,338.27 points, with a massive loss of 112.08, from its previous finish on profit-booking by Foreign Institutional Investors in view of subdued advices from global markets.

Later, key benchmark indices of BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) recovered in volatile trades, led by IT stocks, on reports of large overseas acquisition by Infosys. But weak sentiments in the global markets weighed on the domestic bourses. Effectively, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 79.13 points, or 0.55 pc, at 14,371.22. Then it fell to 14,286.38, losing 163.97 points, to record the day's low, while its high was 14,395.24.

Reliance Industries fell close to two per cent. Small-cap steel maker Pennar Steel saw massive volumes in early trade, a leading broker said.

The S &P CNX Nifty index of NSE was trading flat at 4,335.20 points from its last finish. Later it was down 43.50 points, or 1.00 pc, at 4,291.85 from its last finish of 4,335.35.

IT stocks were in demand. India's fourth largest software services exporter, Satyam Computer Services, gained 2.25 pc at Rs 402.15 on 1.12 lakh shares. It was the top gainer from Sensex pack.

Wirpo was up 1.58 pc to Rs 426.30 and TCS rose 1.17 pc to Rs 827.50.

India's largest private sector firm by market capitalization and oil refiner, Reliance Industries, slumped 1.84 pc at Rs 2,189.50 on 1.61 lakh shares. It was the top loser from Sensex pack.

Jaiprakash Associates was down 1.60 pc to Rs 157.25 followed by DLF by 1.40 pc to Rs 488.25 and ICICI Bank by 1.24 pc to Rs 647.70.

Asian markets were also trading weak today as key benchmark indices in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea were down between 0.30 pc and two pc.

US markets plunged yesterday, led by financials, as AIG tumbled to a 13-year low, while Washington Mutual led other financial companies lower. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 241.81 points, or 2.08 pc, to 11,386.25. The S &P 500 index lost 25.36 points, or 1.96 pc, to 1,266.84, and the Nasdaq Composite index declined 49.12 points, or 2.03 pc, to 2,365.59, he added.

UNI