Sensex down 500 pts as Fin Budget falls short of expectations

Mumbai, Feb 28 (UNI) The BSE Sensex tumbled over 500 points, as investors were disappointed by the Budget and built up fresh short positions.

At 1240 hrs, the 30-shares BSE Sensex was down 530.48 points, at 12,948.11. It had opened with a yawning downward gap, at 13,045.12, and tumbled to a low of 12,800.91, as selling intensified. Its high for the day is 13,298.52, brokers said.

Cement makers were disappointed after excise duty was hiked to Rs 350 per MT on cement sold for less than Rs 190. Higher duty will be levied for more expensive varieties of cement.

Gujarat Ambuja Cements was the top loser, down 12.50 per cent to Rs 110, on 19.15 lakh shares.

Index heavyweight RIL was down 3.27 per cent to Rs 1359, on a volume of 15.74 lakh shares.

Circuits filters will be applied only if markets go up or down by 10 per cent. If this happens, then trading will be halted by an hour before 1300 hrs. But if it happens between 1300 hrs and 1430 hrs , then the market will be shut for 30 minutes. If the same happens after 1430 hrs, then there will be no more trading for the day, brokers added.

UNI