Sensex closes 87 points down on Tuesday

Shares succumbed to heavy profit-selling and fell steeply, pushing the Sensex sharply down to end at 10,086.63.

Shares succumbed to heavy profit-selling and fell steeply, pushing the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex sharply down by 86.62 points to end at 10,086.63.

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The BSE's 30-shares sensitive index, after a strong start at 10,180.51 as against Monday's high closing of 10,173.25, shot up further to an intra-day high of 10,185.06 during early trading.

Later, the index plunged to a low of 10,064.46, before ending at 10,086.63, showing a steep fall of 0.85 per cent over the previous close.

Retail investors were booking profit at yesterday's steep rally when the index had closed at a historic high, while Foreign Insitutional Investors (FIIs) continued to buy heavily, dealers said.

Some dealers described today's fall as technical correction ahead of the Union Budget to be presented in Parliament during the last week of the month. Investors wanted to make their position safe before making any further commitments, they added.

Meanwhile, FIIs with a net investment of Rs 614.4 crore on February 10, have already purchased shares worth Rs 3,112 crores in the current month. However, they were net sellers worth Rs 118.40 crore on February eight.