Tuesday, October 11 2005 10:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: After a strong start in response to excellent Q2 results announced by IT bellwether Infosys Tech, the Sensex today (Oct 11, 2005) dropped sharply from its early highs and was quoted 51 points down during morning trading on heavy selling triggered by negative FII activity during last week.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Benchmark 30-share Index (Sensex) opened remarkably up at 8547.95 against yesterday's close of 8483.86 but later turned weak due to selling pressure and fell to a low of 8406.14 before being quoted at 8432.39 at 10.30 am, down by 51.47 points from last close.

Contrary to expectations of a rally on the back of improved second quarter corporate earnings, the market failed to respond to Infosys announcement of better-than-expected second quarter working results this morning.

Attributing heavy sell-off by investors to fears of FII withdrawal in the light of their net sales of Rs 1126 crore in the current month, brokers said investors adopted cautious approach following analysts' bearish signals.

Infosys Technologies, however, attracted fairly good buying support and were quoted smartly up at early stages.

The Sensex is expected to move downwards if its ended the day below 8400 level, brokers added.