Mumbai: In a historic development, the Sensex today (May 17, 2004) hit the 10 per cent circuit breaker prompting the BSE authorities to suspend trading for one hour in a bid to contain the excess volatility in the market.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened weak at 5020.89 as against last Friday's close of 5069.87 and later nosedived to 4516.58 at 10:17 hours (IST), showing a record net loss of 553 points with 20 minutes of trading.

Brokers said Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), retail investors and high net worth individuals were believed to have resorted to across-the-board sell-off on fears of drastic changes in the economic policy pursued by the BJP-led NDA Government during the last five years.

The negative reaction was attributed to the delay in the announcement of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) by the Congress - and its allies including Left Front - which reportedly would stake claim to form a stable Government at the Centre later today.