Friday, August 12 2005 11:02 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Sensex today (Aug 12, 2005) charged to a new peak of 7861.26 before falling below 7800 level during morning trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as operators and retailers resorted to profit selling at the higher levels amid consistent Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) inflows in the week.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened firm at 7835.70 as against yesterday's (Aug 11, 2005) close of 7816.51 and later surged to a high of 7861.26 on the back of sustained net investments by FII.

However, profit booking by domestic investors pulled the Sensex down to a low of 7786.06 before being quoted at 7786.70 at 10.30 a.m., down by 29.81 points.

Attributing the sell-off by operators and retailers to surging crude prices, which soared to above 66 dollars a barrel in Asian trading this morning, brokers said the market turned weak after an early spurt following a sudden selling spree from local investors.

Investors seemed to be extremely cautious even though FIIs remained net buyers in the equity.

Operators and traders were seen booking profits in a number blue chip counters at the prevailing higher price levels.