Sensex crashes 157 points
Mumbai - The fears of impending war around the south Asian region led to the crash of the benchmark 30-share BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) to a three-year low of 2830.12, down 157.38 points from Thursdays close of 2987.5.

Stocks nose dived across the board as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold with a vengeance on information technology and pharma stocks. Thereafter, retail investors joined in and added to the overall panic selling.

The Sensex had been heading south for nearly a week, but panic hit the markets following the terrorist attacks on the US on Tuesday. Extreme redemption pressures on US-based mutual funds operating here and a near-total absence of buying support from domestic institutional players added to the fear of investors.

Since Tuesdays terrorist attacks, the Sensex lost over 320 points, which, in terms of loss to market capitalisation, is over Rs 46,157 crore.

A cross-section of panicky investors resorted to heavy selling in key stocks like Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, NIIT, Zee Tele, Cipla, Infosys, Wipro, HFCL, CMC Ltd, ICICI Bank and others.

Reliance and RPL were particularly battered as the shadows of war loomed on the Asian horizon.

In terms of decline in market capitalisation, Reliance Industries has been the biggest loser. The market capitalisation of the company has declined by Rs 4,932 crore, or 15.2 per cent.

Software major Infosys Technologies ranks second to Reliance in terms of erosion in market capitalisation. The company's market capitalisation has declined by Rs 4,148 crore, or 8.58 per cent, since Friday last.

Despite a weak trend in the last few days, the Dr Reddy's Laboratories stock is the only company to have withstood the recent bear assault. Compared to Friday last, the market capitalisation of the company is still higher by 9.63 per cent, or Rs 609.18 crore.
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FIIs go on a selling spree
Mumbai - The impending US retaliatory action prompted foreign institutional investors (FIIs) to encash a large part of their holding in Indian companies.

According to dealers, Morgan Stanley a prominent FII, sold off shares worth Rs 300 crore on Friday. Many other followed suit, pulling stock prices to 157 down on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Morgan Stanley suffered huge damages in the crash of World Trade Center where it had a large infrastructure.

Dealers said there is panic selling by FIIs in the market. FIIs were converting their equity into debt. ``Investors are waiting for Nasdaq and NYSE markets to react to the situation and are expecting both markets to plunge,'' said an analyst.

The Sensex has declined by 28.75 per cent since the start of the year. And, from a high of 4,462 recorded on February 16, it has eased by 36.57 per cent.

The market is now ruling at levels not seen since November 1998. On November 30, 1998, the Sensex touched a low of 2,741.7, but a sharp uptrend followed thereafter. The bull run lasted for little over 14 months when the Sensex peaked at 6,151 on February 14, 2000. The market has since declined by about 54 per cent to the current level of 2,830.12.

With the American stock market yet to commence trading after the attack, the outlook for the Indian stock market continues to remain uncertain. The Sensex is likely to have a downward bias as events related to the terrorist attack unfold in the ensuing weeks
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