Finance-Nation Mumbai: Despite attempts by domestic funds to salvage the situation, the market witnessed another stocks meltdown pushing the SENSEX below the 3000-psychological barrier on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on April 11 on unabated sell-off by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

FIIs were believed to have off-loaded over 10 lakh shares of Infosys Tech and Satyam Computers, brokers said adding that even pharma heavyweight Dr Reddy's Lab also tumbled by more than eight per cent due to heavy selling pressure.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened moderately lower at 3030.46 and later fell sharply to the intra-day low at 2962.97 in somewhat roller-coaster activity before ending at 2997.87 as against April 10th's close of 3035.33, netting a fall of 37.46 points

The broad-based BSE-100 Index dipped by 17.55 points to 1482.38 from previous close of 1499.93.

Disappointed extremely by Infosys' poor outlook for the fiscal 2003-04, FIIs made fresh sales in IT counters sending the IT bellwether reeling down by another 14 per cent.

Had it not been for the purchases made by local funds led by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Infosys Tech would have touched Rs 2000-mark during the session, brokers added.

The SENSEX was largely affected by sharp falls in Infosys Tech, Dr Reddy's Lab, Satyam Computers, Cipla, MTNL, SBI and Tisco, even though a smart rally in RIL, Grasim, Hero Honda, HCL Tech, BSES and BHEL helped mitigate the negative impact.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei too ended sharply lower by 163.63 points to 20-year low as a result of adverse impact of SARS on Asian markets.

PTI