Friday, March 31 2006 17:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The stock market snapped a five-day long winning streak and today (Mar 31, 2006) ended 27 points down in high volatility on alternate bouts of buying and selling even as the volume touched a historic high following a large block deal in heavyweight counter Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

In a bull run since March 24, the market had risen by over 516 points to an all-time intra-trade high of 11,352.06 this morning before adjusting to a downward correction, which was seen as necessary for the sound health of market.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Benchmark 30-share Index (sensex) moved in a range of 11,356.95 and 11,231.16 in a roller-coaster ride before ending the day at 11,279.96 from yesterday's close of 11,307.04, a net loss of 27.08 points or 0.24 per cent.

Attributing negative reaction to week-end profit sales by day-traders and retail investors, stock brokers said Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and domestic mutual funds were believed to be buyers but their activity was largely confined to mid-cap and small-cap counters.

FIIs and mutual funds have been consistent buyers during the month on the back of strong market fundamentals based on the country's robust economic growth.

RIL clocked highest ever turnover of Rs 3,232.11 crore, including the block deal and helped the BSE volume to zoom to a new record of Rs 8,843.87 crore, surpassing the previous record of 7,831.19 crore of September 13, 2000.

Had it not been for impressive gains in key stocks like BHEL, Tata Steel, Maruti Udyog, Cipla, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Grasim, the sensex's losses would have been steeper.