Mumbai, May 20: Indian shares slumped on Thursday as investors booked profits after two days of gains and became cautious following the Prime Minister-elect's comments about keeping state-run firms in the public sector. The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index -- Sensex ended over 73.99 points or 1.48 per cent lower at 4,932.11 points, with gainers outnumbering losers 925 to 660, in brisk volume of 123 million shares. The broader National Stock Exchange index ended 1.74 percent lower at 1,540.60 points. "The index was clearly meeting resistance at the 5,000-level, and a lot of uncertainties with regards to disinvestment and subsidies, that's keeping investors cautious," said Ajit Sanghvi, director of MSS Securities. Investors may go into a 'hold' position now, awaiting further cues from the new government, he said. "Besides, there are regional and global factors, like lower Asian markets and high oil prices, which are also weakening sentiment," he said. The Bombay index opened higher, but quickly slid, following comments made early on Thursday by incoming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and GAIL India Ltd (GAIL) as well as state-run banks, would not be privatised. Index heavyweight ONGC, in which the Government sold a $2.3 billion stake in March, the nation's largest ever, ended down three per cent at Rs 682.60. Gas distributor GAIL ended 0.4 per cent higher at Rs 170.35, but public sector State Bank of India fell two per cent to Rs 514.85. Sentiment was also weakened by lower global indices and fresh violence in West Asia, which have raised fears about oil supply. Global crude oil prices have been at or near record-highs. Tata Iron and Steel Co, India's second-biggest steel maker, rose 3.8 per cent to Rs 327 after it said fourth quarter net profit was up 34 per cent at Rs 6.29 billion compared to a year earlier.
Mid-sized software services firm Mphasis BFL Ltd rose 8.2 per cent to Rs 497 after it said the Reserve Bank of India had approved raising the limit on foreign fund investment to 100 per cent.
Bureau Report