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Bombay equities show

downwad movement

BOMBAY: Shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) finished lower as fund managers were in a holiday mood and frequent disruptions on the bourse's online trading system (BOLT) also contributed to light volumes, traders said.

The London and Hong Kong markets were closed for a bank holiday. The BSE will remain shut on Tuesday and Wednesday on Hindu festivals. "The bank holiday in Hong Kong and London took a lot of foreign investors off the local market," said Nandkishore Gupta at Ind-Sec Share & Stockbroking.

BSE extended its session by 30 minutes to 1030 GMT due to frequent disruptions on the online system during the session.

"Most traders were executing pending orders as there were no fresh overseas orders," said a trader at SSKI Securities.

BSE's 30-share index ended at a provisional 3,336.41 points against Friday's close of 3,370.28. The composite National index drifted lower to finish at a provisional 1,541.68 against 1,551.19 points.

Traders said most local and foreign funds stayed on the sidelines and some made select purchases in blue chips.

"The trend was weak last Thursday and Friday and most funds seem to have postponed their orders until a clearer trend is available on Thursday," Gupta said.

"Everyone's in an extended weekend mood," Gupta said.

"Local institutions are still net sellers and many local funds want to book profits," said a trader at brokers James Capel Batlivala & Karani.

"There's still a general overhang of selling and volumes are low because of the frequent holidays," the trader said.

Reliance finished at a provisional 260.50 rupees against Friday's close of 264 rupees. Steel maker TISCO slid to a provisional close of 232 against 235 rupees.

Prices also ended lower on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on the last day of the current account.

The National bourse will remain shut on Tuesday.

Shares of ITC Ltd fell sharply on BSE and NSE as speculators sold on newspaper reports that the firm could face prosecution for evading excise duties totalling 12.50 billion rupees on its cigarettes sales, brokers said. The Economic Times reported last week that the government has asked Indian excise authorities to take steps to prosecute ITC for evading duties in the 1980s.

ITC fell 11 rupees to 248 on the NSE and slid to a provisional close of 242 rupees from 255 on the BSE. The share is in a no-delivery period on the NSE until September 19.-Reuter