05-28-2004, 10:28 PM
<b>Sensex down 223 as markets write off CMP </b>
Mumbai, May 28. (PTI): The Sensex crashed by 223 points today wiping out over Rs 51,000 crore of investors wealth on across-the-board sell-off by investors disillusioned by the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance.
<b>The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened sharply lower at 5026.92 and later plunged to the intra-day low of 4821.59 before ending at 4835.39, a steep fall of 223.16 points or 4.41 per cent. </b>
The broad-based BSE-100 Index tumbled by 122.63 points to 2568.40 from previous close of 2691.03.
Indices did not fare well at the NSE either.
The main NSE index, the S&P CNX NIFTY ended at 1508.75 a shade less than five percent below Thursday's close of 1586.40
For its part, the CNX NIFTY JUNIOR lost 4.75 percent at 2988.65, compared to its previous close of 3137.65.
<b>Extremely disappointed over the CMP that put disinvestment, labour reforms and privatisation of power utilities on the backburner, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) pressed heavy sales across the spectrum, brokers said</b>.
<b>Power as well as PSU and Banking sectors bore the brunt of the sell-off and registered huge losses</b>.
There was nothing for the market as well as for foreign investments in the CMP which has done little to allay investors fears over the pace and extent of economic reforms.
Commenting on the privatisation issue, brokers said though the government is open to disinvestment of upto 49 per cent in PSUs including profitable ones, it <b>has scrapped the disinvestment ministry indicating that majority stake and management control would remain with the government</b>.
This will automatically discourage foreign investments in the country, these brokers feel.
Brokers see "lack of clarity" in CMP
Reacting negatively to lack of clarity in the CMP as to how the government will mobilise resources, operators and retailers too joined the bandwagon resorting to heavy selling in blue chip counters.
<b>Attributing the sharp downturn in power stocks to the UPA government's decision to review the Electricity Act, 2003 </b>and defer the mandatory date for unbundling and replacing of the state electricity boards, brokers said the Congress-led UPA has almost reversed the policy of previous government by scrapping disinvestment ministry.
Bank stocks fell sharply on speculations of hike in interest rate.
Business volume rises sharply
In fairly good volume, key counters like RIL, SBI, REL Grasim, HLL, HPCL, Tata Motor, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Tisco, Wipro, MTNL, MUL, Infosys Tech, Satyam Computer, ITC, Bharti Tele-Venture and Bajaj Auto suffered a sharp setback.
The volume of business rose sharply to Rs 2324.15 crore from Rs 1590.24 crore yesterday. SBI was the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 264.55 crore followed by RIL (Rs 228.89 crore), MUL (Rs 168.07 crore), Satyam Computers (Rs 161.25 crore) and Tisco (Rs 127.18 crore).
Mumbai, May 28. (PTI): The Sensex crashed by 223 points today wiping out over Rs 51,000 crore of investors wealth on across-the-board sell-off by investors disillusioned by the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance.
<b>The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened sharply lower at 5026.92 and later plunged to the intra-day low of 4821.59 before ending at 4835.39, a steep fall of 223.16 points or 4.41 per cent. </b>
The broad-based BSE-100 Index tumbled by 122.63 points to 2568.40 from previous close of 2691.03.
Indices did not fare well at the NSE either.
The main NSE index, the S&P CNX NIFTY ended at 1508.75 a shade less than five percent below Thursday's close of 1586.40
For its part, the CNX NIFTY JUNIOR lost 4.75 percent at 2988.65, compared to its previous close of 3137.65.
<b>Extremely disappointed over the CMP that put disinvestment, labour reforms and privatisation of power utilities on the backburner, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) pressed heavy sales across the spectrum, brokers said</b>.
<b>Power as well as PSU and Banking sectors bore the brunt of the sell-off and registered huge losses</b>.
There was nothing for the market as well as for foreign investments in the CMP which has done little to allay investors fears over the pace and extent of economic reforms.
Commenting on the privatisation issue, brokers said though the government is open to disinvestment of upto 49 per cent in PSUs including profitable ones, it <b>has scrapped the disinvestment ministry indicating that majority stake and management control would remain with the government</b>.
This will automatically discourage foreign investments in the country, these brokers feel.
Brokers see "lack of clarity" in CMP
Reacting negatively to lack of clarity in the CMP as to how the government will mobilise resources, operators and retailers too joined the bandwagon resorting to heavy selling in blue chip counters.
<b>Attributing the sharp downturn in power stocks to the UPA government's decision to review the Electricity Act, 2003 </b>and defer the mandatory date for unbundling and replacing of the state electricity boards, brokers said the Congress-led UPA has almost reversed the policy of previous government by scrapping disinvestment ministry.
Bank stocks fell sharply on speculations of hike in interest rate.
Business volume rises sharply
In fairly good volume, key counters like RIL, SBI, REL Grasim, HLL, HPCL, Tata Motor, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Tisco, Wipro, MTNL, MUL, Infosys Tech, Satyam Computer, ITC, Bharti Tele-Venture and Bajaj Auto suffered a sharp setback.
The volume of business rose sharply to Rs 2324.15 crore from Rs 1590.24 crore yesterday. SBI was the top traded share with the highest turnover of Rs 264.55 crore followed by RIL (Rs 228.89 crore), MUL (Rs 168.07 crore), Satyam Computers (Rs 161.25 crore) and Tisco (Rs 127.18 crore).