Tuesday, April 25 2006 18:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The benchmark sensex today (Apr 25, 2006) went into a tailspin and ended 268 points down, extending its losses to the third straight session after investors reacted negatively to a decision to hike in trading margins.

After a firm start at 11,943.08, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark 30-share Index (sensex) later turned week and touched the day's low of 11,621.61 before ending at 11,646.78, a net fall of 268.46 points or 2.25 per cent.

The fall was triggered by the National Stock Exchange decision hike margins in derivatives and cash segments with effect from April 28, the new trading day.

The index had rolled down by 115 points in previous day's trading, besides registering a nine points fall on Friday.

The NSE wide-based index Nifty also dipped to a low of 3433.55, before winding up at 3462.65, showing a fall of 86.25 points.

High crude prices also contributed to the decline in the market, as foreign funds offloaded heavily on inflation concerns.

Operators and retail traders seemed to be forced to reduce their long positions in the futures ahead of the expiryof April contract on Thursday, in a bid to escape new margins.

They were seen attempting to square up positions in the futures for a smooth roll-over to new contract.

The sentiment was adversely affected by a slowdown ininflows from Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) as well as domestic mutual funds in the last few days.

Selling was mainly witnessed in blue chip counters whilethe Mid-Cap and Small-Cap segments showed marginal losses.