Mumbai: Public sector undertakings (PSUs) shares, under the leadership of BHEL, met with fresh spell of profit selling by operators on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on February 19, pulling down the SENSEX by 36.32 points.

As a result of the fresh selling, majority of old-economy shares also reacted downwards affecting the recent bullish sentiment, dealers said.

Software stocks, however, ruled mixed on alternate bouts of buying and selling. While, frontline new economy shares reeled under selling pressure from foreign funds, second-rung IT stocks attracted brisk buying support from speculators.

Dealers attributed the sudden downturn to the profit-booking by wary operators ahead of ensuing Union Budget, which is going to be presented on February 28.

Reflecting the change in mood, the BSE-30 share sensitive index dropped to a low of 3,588.93 before ending at 3,597.61 as against a close of 3,633.93 on February 18, a fall of one per cent.

Meanwhile, the SENSEX resumed on a promising note at 3,641.78 and immediately touched a high of 3,652.76 at early stages.

The broad-based BSE-100 index also dropped by 20.96 points to close at 1,740.86 from previous close of 1,761.82.

PTI