Sensex sheds 230 points in opening trade

Mumbai, Sep 11: The benchmark index of Bombay Stock Exchange shed 230 points on Thursday, Sep 11 to reach 14,431 and the Nifty also tumbled by 80 points at 4,320, on sustained selling pressure tracking the weak sentiments in the Asian markets in the opening trade.

Sensex opened weak and continued with the losing spree tracking subdued Asian markets, ahead of the inflation data scheduled to be announced after market hours on Thursday, Sep 11, Index frontliners, Reliance Industries fell 2.52 by per cent to Rs 2,029.80, ONGC by 2.1 per cent to Rs 1,054, Reliance Infrastructure by 1.92 per cent to Rs 1,015.10, Grasim Industries by 1.48 per cent to Rs 2,016.45 and Bharat Heavy Electricals fell by 1.7 per cent to Rs 1,682.10.

However, Sterlite Industries rose by 1.59 per cent to Rs 516 and was the lone gainer from Sensex. Tata Consultancy Services fell by 1.09 per cent to Rs 841.90. The company said on Wednesday it will partner with Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab for an aeronautical design and development centre.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net equity sellers worth Rs 1,037.28 crore, while mutual funds bought shares worth Rs 492.56 crore yesterday, according to provisional data of NSE.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 1,267.03 crore in the futures and options segment on the same day. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 1,016.07 crore and bought index options worth Rs 238.07 crore. They were net sellers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 485.28 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 3.75 crore.

UNI