Mumbai: Led by IT bellwether Infosys Tech, share values declined sharply, sending the SENSEX down by another 22.91 points to close at 3256.86 on the Stock Exchange on February 10 on heavy selling by institutional investors.

Dealers said market participants kept the commitments restricted as they were awaiting the UN weapons inspectors' report to the UN Security Council on February 14.

Tech counters bore the brunt of large-scale offloading on weak Wall Street advices where the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped further by 19.25 points last Friday.

The situation was further aggravated by reports that after introduction of a bill aimed at blocking offshore government BPO (business process outsourcing) work to India by New Jersey senate, four other states are also to be mulling introduction of a similar legislation, which is going to be bad news for India, they said.

Banking segment also suffered a fresh setback on selling due to fears of rise in interest rates in anticipation of slow down in economy and rise in inflation rate. According to government statement, the economic growth is expected to plunge to 4.4 per cent in '02-03 from 5.6 per cent in '01-02.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index opened slightly better at 3281.37 from last Friday's close of 3279.77 and gradually moved downwards to the day's low of 3252.49 before concluding at 3256.86, netting a fall of 0.70 per cent.

The broad-based BSE-100 index also dropped by 10.85 points to 1612.96 from previous close of 1623.81.

PTI