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Sensex drops 48 points on heavy selling

MUMBAI APRIL 17. The overnight rally was shortlived as blue chip stocks came under heavy pounding from domestic funds and a few operators and sent the Sensex reeling down to end 48 points lower on the Bombay Stock Exchange here today.

The sell-off was partly fuelled by IT major Wipro's announcement of a 2.5 per cent growth in the Q4 net profit that fell significantly short of the expected 5 per cent growth as well as a slowdown in FII activity. Wipro surpassed market expectations in terms of growth in revenue that was up by 32 per cent at Rs. 1,237 crores but the net profit grew only by 2.5 per cent at Rs. 225.40 crores during fourth quarter.

The BSE benchmark 30-share index opened sharply down at 3002.68 and gradually moved downwards to the intra-day low at 2971.94 before ending at 2984.50 against 3032.32, netting a fall of 47.82 points or 1.58 per cent.

Commenting on selling by domestic funds, market sources said a brokers cartel took advantage of profit booking by local institutions and hammered down stocks prices.

Foreign institutional investors who had been net sellers to the tune of Rs. 419 crores during last week and have turned buyers in the last couple of sessions, were believed to have made selective purchases, albeit in small quantity.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 144.75 points yesterday in reaction to mixed earnings reports from several of blue chip companies while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up by 3.71 points.

In the specified group, 141 including 23 index-based counters registered sharp to moderate losses while 53 others closed with gains.

PTI

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