The markets opened with a positive gap of 16 points at 4,972 ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget today. The indices crossed the 5,00-mark during early noon deals to hit a high of 5,004. It dropped more than 100 points after that to touch a low of 4,809. Sustained selling pressure meant that the Sensex finally ended the day with a loss of 112 points at 4,844. The Nifty was down 49 points at 1,518.
HLL dropped 3.6% (Rs 5) to Rs 124 while Reliance was down a percent (Rs 6) at Rs 432. ITC, however, bucked the downtrend and ended a percent higher at Rs 977.
Infosys and Wipro were down 3% each at Rs 1,351 and Rs 501. Satyam was unchanged at Rs 306.
PSUs were the major losers as a result of the selling pressure. ONGC plunged 7.3% (Rs 51) to Rs 648. HPCL dropped 5.4% (Rs 18) to Rs 307 while MTNL was down 5% (Rs 6) at Rs 130. SBI was down 4% (Rs 18) to Rs 418 while Bhel was down 3% (Rs 14) at Rs 522.
Tisco plunged 6.3% (Rs 20) to Rs 296 while Hero Honda dropped 5.3% (Rs 27.50) to Rs 492.