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Infotech results bely expectations, activate bears; Sensex slips 44 points, dips to 2872.48

Disappointed by the half-yearly results of software giants Satyam Computers and Infosys Technologies, the bull operators resorted to heavy selling on the Bombay Stock Exchange, pushing down the BSE Sensex by 44 points on the first day of current trading cycle today.

According to market circles, Satyam Computers posted a net profit of Rs 337 million in the first half ended September 30, as against Rs 150 million in the corresponding previous year which was below their expectations of Rs 350-390 million.

Another software leader Infosys Technologies also declared its results, registering a net profit of Rs 520.7 million during the first half of the fiscal year. The company also announced an interim dividend of 25 per cent for the current year.

A leading foreign institutional investor also reportedly pressed sales in select counters, leading BSE brokers said. Most of the FIIs preferred to stay away from the market. The redemption report of the UTI's US-64 Scheme also discouraged the marketmen. According to them, Unit Trust of India did not participate in the market today.

Reports of a firm trend in Tokyo, Hongkong and London also failed to boost the depressed market sentiments, brokers said.

Reflecting the bearish phase, the 30-scrip BSE Sensex opened at 2914.50 points, touched the day's high of 2926.25, fell below the psychological barrier of 2900 points to touch the day's low of 2850.50 and finally ended at 2872.48 points, showing a net loss of 44.18 points over the previous close of 2916.66 points.

Broad-based BSE-100 index declined by 27.62 points to 1283.43 points from Friday's close of 1301.05 points. The BSE-200 and Dollex indices closed lower by 3.91 and 1.54 points at 300.33 and 118.04 points from the previous close of 304.24 and 119.58 points respectively.

Reacting to their half-yearly performance, Satyam Computers lost by Rs 33 to Rs 561 and Rs 35.70 to Rs 560 on the National Stock Exchange while Infosys Technologies declined by Rs 15.50 to Rs 2308 on the BSE and Rs 20.45 to Rs 2309 on the NSE.

Trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange started late at 11:45 hours instead of the usual 10:00 hours due to power failure. However, trading ended at 15:30 hours at the regular time.

Among the issues, cement giant ACC lost by Rs 10.25 to Rs 985, Bajaj Auto declined by Rs 7 to Rs 545.75, BHEL Rs 12.40 to Rs 229.10, Castrol Rs 2.75 to Rs 583, Colgate Rs 0.30 to Rs 172.90, Dr Reddy's Rs 17.50 to Rs 493.50, Glaxo Rs 12.75 to Rs 462.75, Grasim Rs 1.60 to Rs 153.90, Hindustan Lever Rs 16.50 to Rs 1685.25, ITC Rs 13.50 to Rs 695.50, L&T Rs 3.30 to Rs 161, MTNL Rs 3.50 to Rs 187.30, Pentafour Software Rs 16 to Rs 646.25, Ranbaxy Rs 9.25 to Rs 548.50, Reliance Rs 2.20 to Rs 107.80, Satyam Computers Rs 34 to Rs 560.25, SBI Rs 161.90, Telco Rs 3.90 to Rs 122.80, Tisco Rs 1.30 to Rs 83.75 and Zee Telefilms fell by Rs 10.70 to Rs 658.50.

Among the few gainers, BSES rose by Rs 2.90 to Rs 152.20, Hero Honda Rs 1.50 to Rs 573.50, Hindalco Rs 2 to Rs 509, India Hotel Rs 9.50 to Rs 413.50 and NIIT Rs 16 to Rs 646.25.

The day's turnover slumped by Rs 3.81 billion to Rs 10 billion from Friday's turnover of Rs 13.81 billion. Satyam Computer topped the list by registering highest turnover of Rs 2.39 billion, followed by ITC Rs 2 billion, SBI Rs 795.8 million, Zee Telefilms Rs 653.3 million and Reliance Rs 561.7 million. Other actively traded counters were Pentafour Software (Rs 478.1 million), Dr Reddy's (Rs 269.6 million), Infosys Tech (Rs 185 million), Sterlite (Rs 164.4 million), BHEL (Rs 135 million), Castrol (Rs 102.4 million), MTNL (Rs 99.4 million), Tata Tea (Rs 98.6 million), Hindustan Lever (Rs 93.3 million) and L&T (Rs 91.5 million).

UNI