Markets recede further into the red

Mumbai, Aug 17: The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex today continued it's freefall, opening remarkably weaker at 14,309.37 from it's previous close of 14,358.21 and shaved off another 341.22 points plunging to 14,016.99 in the opening session, on negative cues from Asian indices.

'' The market witnessed high degree of volatility, swinging sharply in early trade. It opened on a weak note as selling continued after a sharp 642.70-point plunge of the BSE Sensex yesterday. Asian markets were trading weak today,'' market participants said.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty also opened weak at 4,171.10 from it's previous close of 4,178.60 and then slumped by 108.50 points at 4,070.10.

The market breadth was however, positive on the BSE as 1,066 shares have advanced as compared to 983 that have declined, while 64 remained unchanged so far. The total turnover here amounted to Rs 935 crore. Among the 30-member Sensex pack, 28 declined while only two advanced, official data shows.

The early losers include Satyam Computer Services, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Larsen&Toubro and Reliance Industries, while the winners were Reliance Energy, TCS, DLF and Batliboi.

Asian markets extended their early fall. Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, China's Shanghai Composite, Singapore's Straits Times, Taiwan Weighted and South Korea's Seoul Composite are all in the red.

Wall Street however, pulled off a dramatic late-session turnaround to close mixed yesterday, after bargain hunters lured by weeks of massive declines came back to the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.69 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 12,845.78. The Standard&Poor's 500 rose 4.57 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 1,411.27, and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 7.76 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 2,451.07.

Oil prices rebounded by half a dollar today, lifted by a late Wall Street recovery and news of a fire at a big Gulf Coast refinery. US crude rose 57 cents to USD 71.57 a barrel.

UNI