Mumbai: Frenzied selling across the board sent the Sensex crashing by 223.16 points to close at 4,835.39 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today (May 28, 2004), after market operators appeared disillusioned over the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) released by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Disappointed over the common agenda that puts disinvestment, labour law changes and privatisation of power utilities on the backburner, nervous operators, led by foreign hedge funds pressed panic sales across the spectrum, dealers said.

Power and power equipment shares, as well as key public sector undertakings (PSUs) and banks scrips suffered severe setbacks on hectic selling by operators, they added.

The BSE sensitive index opened sharply lower at 5,026.92 from yesterday's close of 5,058.55 and plunged to a low of 4,821.59, before ending at 4,835.39, an approximate steep fall of 4.41 per cent.