Tuesday, March 29 2005 17:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: A virtual meltdown in stock prices today (March 29, 2005) wiped out investors wealth by Rs 38,091 crore and sent the Sensex tumbling by a whopping 143 points to end at two-month low of 6367.86 on relentless selling ahead of the fiscal yearend, weighed down partly by global weakness.

Operators resorted to across-the-board selling in a bid to square up their outstanding positions at the last trading day of the current accounting year. Another reason for the negative turnaround was the approaching expiry of derivatives contract on March 31.

A powerful earthquake off Indonesia's western coast, which sent a shudder of panic across the Indian Ocean about another tsunami, had a sentimental impact on the bourses.

However, a late pullback rally at the fag end of day mitigated the Sensex losses at close.

Opening on a promising note at 6512.98, the BSE Benchmark 30-share Index later turned weak and gradually moved downwards to the day's low of 6326.73 before ending the day at 6367.86 as against yesterday's close of 6510.74, a net fall of 142.88 points or 2.19 per cent.

FIIs too joined the bandwagon with prices seeking lower levels and were believed to be heavy sellers in a number of blue chip counters in a bid to book profits.

As per figures released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, FIIs have made net sales of Rs 131.20 crore on March 23 and net purchases of Rs 263.20 crore on March 24. The net investments on March 24, according to brokers, include FIIs subscription of about Rs 550 crore in the Punjab National Bank public issue.