Monday, August 8 2005 12:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The stocks market showed signs of further slide as the Sensex today (Aug 8, 2005) turned weak after opening on a promising note and was quoted down by 39 points at 10.30 am due to selling pressure from domestic institutional investors and operators.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened down at 7760.67 as against Friday's close of 7754.00 and firmed up to a high of 7781.04 within minutes of trading. Thereafter, it fell back on selling pressure and was quoted at 7714.73 at 10.30 am, down by 39.27 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), however, remained buyers in select blue chip counters while shifting their focus to mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

FIIs reported net investments of Rs 1727.30 crore in equity in the first four trading sessions of the week.

Commenting on the downward trend after gaining by about 493 points or 6.75 per cent in a nine-session long bull-run till August 4, brokers said the market needed a healthy correction after the huge rally.

Local Mutual Funds and operators were seen booking profits at the prevailing higher price levels, brokers added.

Key stocks like Satyam Computers, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd, Infosys Tech, Tata Motor, ONGC, Larsen and Turbo (L&T), HDFC, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy's Lab and Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) were quoted substantially lower on selling pressure.

However, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Energies Limited (REL) and ICICI Bank showed moderate gains on fresh buying support.