Mumbai: The SENSEX snapped the five-session long winning streak and dropped by about 40 points at close as a result of a sharp slide in technology stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on April 8 due to profit booking by operators as well as retail investors.

Speculators and public investors were believed to have sold off sizeable chunk of their holdings in key IT stocks ahead of the announcement of fourth quarter working results by major software companies like Mastek and Infosys Technologies within the next couple of days.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened substantially lower at 3205.92 and gradually moved downwards below 3200-level to end at 3174.86 as against the April 7 close of 3215.24, netting a loss of 40.38 points.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index also fell by 16.15 points to 1573.95 from previous close of 1590.10.

Commenting on the consistent upsurge in stocks in the last five sessions, brokers said Indian bourses have withstood adverse global situation arising out of the break- out of war in the Gulf and largely attributed the long rally to continued net investments by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

FIIs have made net purchases of Rs 216 crore during the last week, brokers said, adding that the diversion of investments by foreign funds could be a result of weak Asian markets due to SARS fears.

Heavyweight IT counters like Infosys Technologies, HCL Tech and Satyam Computers suffered a sharp setback. Besides, old economy shares like RIL, SBI, Telco, Tisco, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Lab recorded marked falls.

PTI