Friday, March 31 2006 11:47 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange Benchmark 30-share Index (sensex) today (Mar 31, 2006) met with resistance after rising to yet another new peak of 11,352.06 and was quoted marginally lower at 10.30 am in high volatility in line with alternate bouts of buying and selling.

The Sensex opened firm at 11,325.96 against yesterday's (Mar 30, 2006) close of 11,307.04 and later rallied smartly to a new intra-trade record high of 11,352.06 but dramatically fell back to a low of 11,231.16 before being quoted at 11,303.84 at 10.30 am, down by 4.80 points from previous close.

Attributing highly erratic price movements to investors buying support alternated by profit booking, stock brokers said the market is expected to witness a roller-coaster ride in about 300-point range during the day.

Market players continued to make fresh commitments for the new derivatives contract while retailers booked profits at higher levels, they added.

The market seemed to be still bullish following strong fundamentals on the back of robust economic growth coupled with consistent and steady flow of funds.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and local mutualfunds provided strong support to the market during the month, making hefty net investments in several blue chip counters at the prevailing higher levels.