Mumbai: Nervousness gripped the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on May 28 with the SENSEX tumbling by a whopping 96.58 points to close at 3146.83 following distress selling by operators as well as foreign funds, triggered by the overnight disappointing and belligerent speech by Pakistan President.

All-round selling from the outset of business took a heavy toll of share values, with foreign funds contributing the bulk of the sell-off, particularly software counters.

The steep fall in the SENSEX could be gauged by the sharp to moderate decline in 29 out of the 30 index-based scrips. The major heavyweight counters such as Infosys Tech, HLL, RIL, ITC, ACC, BHEL, Grasim, HPCL, TELCO, TISCO, L&T and Satyam Computer took the brunt of the heavy selling, dealers said.

In a televised address on May 27 night, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said the tension with India was "at its height" and there was a danger of war breaking out.

Taking into considerations the tough rhetoric by leaders of both the countries, the clouds of war appear to be still hovering making it difficult for operators to take fresh positions in the current uncertain situation, a dealer said.

Meanwhile, India reacted angrily to Musharraf's assertion that there was no infiltration from his side, saying his belligerent posture has raised the tension instead of reducing it.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened lower at 3231.82, which was also the day's high, and gradually declined to a low of 3140.38 before concluding at 3146.83 as against previous close of 3243.41, a sharp fall of 2.98 per cent.

PTI