Tuesday, July 4 2006 18:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The stock markets today (July 4, 2006) came under pressure as Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark, Sensex ended 33 points down at 10,662.22 points in a very low trading volume after an initial strong rally on the back of strong trend in New York and Asian markets.

The low volume was attributed to thin attendance in the markets, caused by incessant rains that disrupted life in the city for the fourth consecutive day.

Initially, 30-share sensitive index rallied sharply to the intra-day high of 10,800.11 points. But the market later lacked follow-up support and lost early gains, ending the day at 10,662.22 points against previous close of 10,695.26 points, a net loss of 33.04 points or 0.31 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the S&P CNX Nifty fell by 12.30 points or 0.39 per cent to 3,138.65 from previous close of 3,150.95 points.

Generally, the markets failed to sustain initial higher levels in the absence of any worthwhile buying support as well as a negative trend in European markets.



In overseas markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday ended 77.80 points up and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced by 18.34 points respectively. Asian markets also ruled strong for the second straight day.

However, the downtrend in London, German and France markets in early trade had adverse impact on the market sentiment.

In dull trading, bank shares hogged the limelight scoring handsome gains on some fund-based buying. As a result, the bankex shot up by 51.47 points or 1.18 per cent to 4,410.75 from last close of 4,359.28.

The volume of business fell sharply to Rs 2,058.54 crore from Rs 2,411.50 crore yesterday. RIL continued to be the most active share with a highest turnover of Rs 125.90 crore followed by Tata Steel (Rs 111.46 crore), VSNL (Rs 100.08 crore), REL Capital (Rs 81.57 crore) and SBI (Rs 80.16 crore).



The broad-based BSE-100 Index eased by 11.31 points to 5,404.55 from previous close of 5,415.86 points.

The BSE-200 Index and the Dollex-200 were quoted slightly down at 1,275.40 and 461.61 at close compared to previous close of 1,278.05 and 462.21 respectively. The BSE-500 Index dipped by 8.55 to 4,043.16 from last close of 4,051.71 and the Dollex-30 ended higher at 1,902.97 from 1,907.42.



ONGC dropped by 21.30 to 1102.20, Reliance Comm by 6.45 to 247.20, Tata Steel by 5.20 to 537.40, Grasim by 13.55 to 1885.45, ITC by 5.20 to 178.85, Maruti Udyog by 6.80 to 785.50, Bharti Tele-Ven by 6.50 to 363.45, Cipla by 4.15 to 210.25, HLL by 4.55 to 232.35, Infosys Tech by 10.85 to 3141.20, L&T by 72 to 2191, Ranbaxy by 7.95 to 349.45 and Wipro by 1.80 to 499.95.

However, SBI firmed up by 12.95 to 755.25, Dr Reddy's Lab by 41.85 to 1327, Bajaj Auto by 8.66 to 2752.40, HDFC Bank by 8.70 to 787.20, ICICI Bank by 1.30 to 490.15, RIL by 1.95 to 1072.95, NTPC by 4.15 to 115.45, Satyam Computer by 8.40 to 727.40, HDFC by 28.35 to 1158.80, Tata Motor by 9.90 to 796, TCS Ltd by 14.55 to 1814.40, ACC by 8.75 to 788.75 and Hero Honda by 2.85 to 790.85.