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Equities decline on FII selling pressure; Nifty down 21 points to 830.25

Equities declined sharply on the National Stock Exchange on heavy selling pressure from foreign institutional investors and local operators today.

Reflecting the bearish mood, the S&P CNX Nifty Index opened at 835.45 points, touched the day's high of 845.10 points, fell to the day's low of 827.90 points before closing at 830.25 points, showing a net loss of 21.30 points as against the previous close of 851.55 points. CNX Nifty Junior fell by 25.40 points to 1397.85 points from the previous close of 1423.25 points.

S&P CNX Defty ended lower by 17.45 points to 676.20 points as against the previous close of 1423.25 points.

S&P CNX-500 and CNX Midcap-200 also eased by 12.79 and 9.65 points to 565.69 and 507.08 points from the previous close of 578.48 and 516.73 points respectively.

Today, 227 scrips advanced, 710 declined and 114 remain unchanged. And 25 securities hit their price bands today.

Total turnover on the NSE shot up to Rs 18.34 billion. About 70.09 million shares changed hands today in 226,923 trades. Debentures traded value stood at Rs 2.82 million.

Satyam Computers topped the list of turnover by registering highest turnover of Rs 3.90 billion followed by Zee Telefilms (Rs 3.14 billion), ITC (Rs 1.91 billion), Pentafour Software (Rs 1.82 billion) and Telco (Rs 1.15 billion).

Other actively traded scrips were SBI (Rs 723 million), Reliance (Rs 694.1 million), Castrol (Rs 450.4 million), Tisco (Rs 362.5 million), Hindustan Lever (Rs 299.7 million), Glaxo (Rs 276.7 million), MTNL (Rs 233.5 million), ACC (Rs 206.3 million), Square D Software (Rs 183.9 million), Silverline (Rs 182.6 million), HCL-HP (Rs 174.1 million), Raymond (Rs 163.3 million), L&T (Rs 136.1 million), Dabur (Rs 126.4 million), Infosys Technologies (Rs 115.5 million), Dr Reddy's (Rs 111.8 million), Tata Tea (Rs 106.8 million), Hero Honda (Rs 101 million), BHEL (Rs 75.7 million) and LML (Rs 69.9 million).

The major gainers were Hero Honda which closed higher at Rs 562 (Rs 550), Gujarat Ambuja Cement Rs 247.50 (Rs 246.30) and Infosys Technologies Rs 2558 (2552.50).

The losers were IDBI Rs 33.40 (Rs 36.30), Telco Rs 136.30 (rs 145.90), Great Eastern Shipping Rs 22.10 (Rs 23.60), Cochin Refineries Rs 115 (Rs 122.55) and Tisco Rs 96 (101.20).

The FIIs' net selling value stood at Rs 337.5 million. The Indian financial institutions and mutual fund were net buyers at Rs 34.1 million on the NSE today.

The wholesale debt market of the NSE witnessed trades worth Rs 4.81 billion. The 11.55 per cent government loan maturing in 2001 was traded for Rs 900 million at a weighted yield of 11.48 per cent. The 12.25 per cent government loan maturing in 2008 was traded for Rs 700 million at a weighted yield of 12.21 per cent.

The 12.40 per cent ICICI Bond maturing in 1999 was traded for Rs 250 million at a weighted yield of 11.95 per cent. Four repo trades worth Rs 500 million were transacted at repo rates ranging between 9 per cent and 9.30 per cent for repo terms of 14 days each.

UNI

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