Sensex down 445 points; Nifty slides 8.52 pts

Mumbai, Sep 16: The Nifty index of National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, Sep 16 slid below 4,000 barrier, down by 8.52 points at 3,987.70, in mid session, on sustained selling by Foreign Institutional Investors on reports of global financial crisis. Earlier, it opened flat at 4,072.55.

Brokers said ''Key benchmark indices slumped for the sixth day in a row today, mirroring mayhem in global markets, triggered by fears of the state of the US financial system after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, insurer AIG struggled for survival and Merrill Lynch was sold to Bank of America. The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 445.25 points at 13,086.02 in the opening session from its last close of 13,531.27. The Sensex recorded the high of 13,297.42 and low of 13,051.73 points.

Similarly, the S &P CNX Nifty index resumed flat at 4,072.55 points, later it recorded the day's high and low at 4,072.55 and 3,919.35 points respectively in mid session.

Ranbaxy Laboratories slumped over five per cent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,800 in early trade.

Banking pivotals saw divergent trend.

US markets collapsed yesterday, falling the most since September 11, 2001, as investors worried about the impact of the latest twists in the credit crisis on the economy and the outlook for profits. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 504.48 points, or 4.42 pc, to 10,917.51, the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 81.36 points, or 3.60 pc, to 2,179.91 and the Standard&Poor's 500 index fell 59 points, or 4.71 pc, to 1,192.70 which affected to downward trend at the Indian bources, brokers added.

Asian markets were trading weak today, as fears of global financial crisis gripped investors across Asia. Key benchmark indices in countries like China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea were down between 2.07 pc and 5.95 pc, contributing to the bearish phase on both bourses.

IT pivotals tumbled due to heavy selling on reports that hedging positions taken by the companies are improper, with rupee falling to two-year low against the dollar. India's fourth largest software services exporter, Satyam Computer Services, slumped 4.66 pc to Rs 351 and was the worst hit among the IT pivotals.

Banking pivotals saw a divergent trend. India's largest private sector bank in terms of net profit, ICICI Bank, slipped 3.19 pc to Rs 606.90. India's second largest private sector bank in terms of net profit, HDFC Bank, slipped 1.42 pc to Rs 1,190.

Bharti Airtel was down 4.51 pc to Rs 730.90, followed by DLF 4.90 pc to Rs 411 and Jaiprakash Associates by 3.63 pc to Rs 141.95 edged lower from the Sensex pack.

However, Infosys was up 0.04 pc to Rs 1,575 and Mahindra &Mahindra rose 0.29 pc to Rs 538.50. They edged higher among the Sensex pack.

UNI