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Sensex down 23 points

MUMBAI DEC. 30. Oil major HPCL led the sharp decline in share values at the Bombay Stock Exchange today on a fresh wave of selling that snapped a three-session rally and pushed the Sensex down by 23.03 points to close at 3374.97 following the deferment of the decision to privatise HPCL and BPCL.

However, a late bout of buying at lower levels, partly cut the sharp early losses.

The initial steep fall in share prices with PSE counters taking the brunt of the selling was due to deferment of privatisation of both the oil majors in the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) meeting late last Friday, dealers said.

A subdued trend in other index-based stocks such as Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Satyam Computer, Dr Reddy, ITC, MTNL, SBI and Telco also weighed on the Sensex. Software shares, which reacted downwards at early stages on negative Nasdaq advices last weekend, staged a recovery and some even ended with smart gains on good buying support from institutional investors as well as speculators.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened lower at 3389.12 from last Friday's close of 3398.00 and dropped further to the day's low of 3359.76. However, short-covering at the fag end helped the Sensex to recoup partially to close at 3374.97. The broad-based BSE-100 index also declined by 7.43 points to 1661.04 from previous close of 1668.47.

Select cement stocks, however, gained on good purchases from retail investors and local funds.

In the specified group, 115 including 22 index-based scrips registered losses while 79 others finished with gains.

PTI

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