New Delhi, Mar 15: Heavy selling took the bottom out of the markets today and led the indices to break crucial support levels. The BSE Sensex ended the day at 5520.66, 179.74 points below its previous close and way below the crucial support level of 5500. The NSE Nifty ended down 48.8 points at 1763.4. The Advances Declines figures reveal why this decline is being viewed very seriously by marketmen. Of the 1949 scrips traded on the BSE, only about 23 per cent managed to advance over their previous close.

The day began on a positive note after the sharp recovery of Friday last. The good mood however did not last long and heavy institutional selling kicked in towards mid-day. Players say that both local funds and foreign institutional investors pressed sales in various heavyweight counters. The severe downfall did not spare stocks from any sector and heavyweight counters from across various industries ended the day with heavy losses.

Most of the stocks that did manage to withstand the onslaught in the market were the ones with a very convincing news flow. Bombay Dyeing (up 20 per cent), Marico (up 3 per cent), Nestle (up 2 per cent) and MICO (up 1.1 per cent). Reports that Bombay Dyeing has firmed up plans for property development led to a huge rush for the company's counter. Analysts expect this move to benefit the stock price substantially. The appreciation in the Nestle counter today was attributed to the company's sound results. Nestle India Ltd posted a net profit of Rs 45.4 crore for the Quarter ended December 31, 2003 as compared to a Net Profit of Rs 37.6 crore in the Quarter ended December 31, 2002 . These results beat analyst expectations. Analysts are also betting on the company's prospects in the food processing sector in the time to come.

The rise in the MICO and Marico counters on the other hand are a direct outcome of bonus/stock split related announcements. Marico announced that it would give out a bonus of 1:1 and also distribute an interim dividend of Rs 2.5 per share. MICO on the other hand recently said that it would sub-divide its Rs 100 shares into shares of Rs 10 each.

Another counter that managed to record handsome gains during the day was HCL Infosys. Aggressive FII buying was reported in the counter yet again. The stock has been on a winning spree in the last few sessions and has been in great demand ever since the excise duties on computers were cut in the interim budget.

BHEL too managed to put up a great fight. The stock plunged to its day low of Rs 568.25 before recovering towards the end to finish the day at Rs 580.1, 1.4 per cent below its previous close. The day did not turn out be very good for other power related stocks though. Tata Power, Reliance Energy, ABB, KEC International and Jyoti Structures all lost ground today.
ONGC ended down almost 1.6 per cent today even as news came in that the government had fixed the offer price of the company's shares at Rs 750.

Tata Motors plunged 4.4 per cent after rumours that MG Rover UK had cancelled its deal with the company. Huge selling surfaced in the counter once the rumour spread. Analysts were counting on the success of this deal and it was being viewed as a giant step for the automobile company. No comment from the company has been reported yet.

Today's hefty decline has clearly shaken market players and many expect stocks to record a further decline. However, this sharp decline is also being viewed by many as an opportunity to accumulate index based counters from a medium to long term point of view. For traders though the current market volatility is clearly a 'Keep off' sign.

Meanwhile, SEBI has reported that FIIs made net investments to the tune of Rs 202 crore on Thursday. Bureau Report