Sensex registers lowest close in over three years

3 Mar 2009, 1657 hrs IST, PTI

MUMBAI: A sudden all-round sell-off at the fag end brought down the benchmark Sensex below 8,400 after more than three months but the Index registered its lowest closing low of 8,427.29 in more than three years, down by a whopping 180 points despite a firm European opening.

The market resumed on a weak note after sluggish Asian cues following a steep fall on Wall Street yesterday. But it moved in a narrow range till late afternoon, coming in and out of positive terrain.

But sudden bouts of heavy selling in the concluding session pulled the bellwether Sensex down to an intra-day low of 8,390.21 before ending the day at 8,427.29, a steep fall of 179.79 points or 2.09 per cent.

The Sensex had finished at 8,308.93 on November 10, 2005. It also completed its three sessions of losing today. The broader 50-issue Nifty of the National Stock Exchange
also plunged by 52.20 points or 1.95 per cent to 2,622.40 from its last close.

Selling was so strong that all sectoral indices ended in the red with a fall between 3.15 per cent and 1.03 per cent. Only three out of the 30 Sensex counters registered gains.

Brokers said the rupee falling to record low levels against the US dollar also prompted foreign funds to pull out of bourses.

While a sharp plunge in exports in January weakened sentiment, the deepening global financial crisis dampened trading activity in software exporting units led by Infosys Technologies as American International Group's record loss worsened investor confidence. Over 50 per cent of India's software business revenue comes from the US markets.

The IT sector index fell by 1.86 per cent to 2,019.24 after Infosys, the second-largest software exporter, fell 1.74 per cent to Rs 1,197.60, Tata Consultancy Services, the largest software exporter, by 3.12 per cent to Rs 445.15, and Wipro, third, dropped 1.16 per cent to Rs 200.50.