Mumbai: The market today (Dec 3, 2004) ended fractionally lower after scaling a new record high of 6361.53 in fairly high volatility caused by alternate bouts of buying and selling from institutional investors.

The BSE (Bombay Stock Exchanger) Benchmark 30-share Index opened up at 6348.32 and later fluctuated erratically in a range of 6361.53 and 6304.22 before ending the day at 6322.76 as against yesterday's close of 6328.43, a net loss of 5.67 points or 0.09 per cent.

For the third straight day, the BSE barometer has hit new intra-trade peak on the sole reason of sustained FII inflows.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), which have been pouring funds in Indian bourses for the last several sessions, reportedly absorbed sales made by domestic mutual funds during the day, brokers said.

Despite declining world oil prices which plummeted to near three-month low at $ 43.25 a barrel, the lowest finish since September 10, local funds pressed heavy sell-off in a bid to make profits at the higher prices levels.

IT sector suffered a fresh setback on selling triggered by appreciating rupee, which in turn, would affect the margins of Indian software companies.

After a smart rally in refinery stocks this morning in reaction to falling oil prices, late profit booking erased initial gains in these counters.

Key IT shares like Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computers and Wipro recorded sharp falls on selling pressure. SBI, Zee Telefilms, HDFC, ITC and Tata Steels also dropped sharply.

However, Tata Motors, ONGC, L&T, Dr Reddy's, BHEL, ICICI Bank and Maruti Udyog showed smart rises.