The MTNL scrip closed the day at Rs 191.40, down Rs 16.60 from its previous close of Rs 208. One FII was reported to have sold close to 10 lakh shares of the telecom major. With general elections round the corner, brokers do not expect any fresh moves from the company. Hence the selling. The total turnover in the counter on the BSE was at Rs 69.55 crore from 35.09 lakh shares. MTNL apart, the other PSU counters which also came in for hammering were SBI, SAIL, HPCL, BPCL and Cochin Refineries. However, IPCL was able to hold on to its ground and closed at Rs 121.50.

The software stocks, however, were in the limelight again on Monday with the Infosys scrip hitting the upper circuit on the BSE at Rs 5219.

During the day, the Sensex opened higher at 4571.36 points, which was also the day's high and touched the day's low at 4491.84 points. The index closed slightly higher at 4494.18 points, showing a net loss of 48.16 points. On the penultimate day of the current account, the S&P CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange on the other hand, opened lower at 1309.85 points and touched the day's high at 1310.80 points. Before closing with a net loss of 20.55 points at 1289.60 points, the index touched the day's low at 1282.85 points.

On the basis of the overbought situation, market players expect the Sensex to touch the 4450-level before any fresh buying comes in. ``At the current levels, the market looks overbought and we are expecting it to shed some more of its flab. In the process, the Sensex is expected to touch the 4450-level,'' says Nikunj Modi at Kisan Ratilal Choksey Shares and securities. According to Rajiv Sampat at Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services, ``given the overbought situaton, we are going to see only selective buying on Tuesday.''

According to market players, apart from the software stocks, Ranbaxy was one of the pivotals which attracted good buying interest. Among others, Bombay Dyeing and Crompton Greaves also witnessed substantial buying interest. After the companies from the cyclical sectors rolled out not so impressive results for the quarter ended June 1999, the market is taking a second look at these stocks. On Monday, almost all the cement stocks, including ACC, L&T and Gujarat Ambuja Cement, came in for heavy selling pressure.

However, among the side counters, Sundaram Fastners, Cheminor Drugs, Rolta India, Silverline, Yogogawa Bluestar and Tata Honneywell attracted buying interests.

Short-lived euphoria

SAIL was among the worst performers today on the stock markets, thanks to the Rs 612 crore net loss reported by the steel giant. The scrip which had managed to climb back above par riding on the wave of cyclical turnaround story, has crashed by more than 50 per cent since its July 15 high of 12.80. On Monday, the scrip lost over Rs 1.50 to close at Rs 6.30 before touching the day's low at Rs 6. In the GDR market too, during the mid-sessions on Monday, the SAIL paper was down by 14.84 per cent at $ 2.73.

All smoke and no fire

The euphoria over the ITC stock fizzled out on Monday as market players took with a pinch of salt the company's chairman's statement last week-end at its AGM. The scrip had turned active in kerb deals after operators saw bonus possibility in the counter. On Monday the scrip, on BSE, closed Rs 11 higher at Rs 1003 against Rs 992 on Friday. On Friday the scrip had touched Rs 1044 on the herbs at Calcutta, but on Monday the high for the scrip was at Rs 1019. On NSE the scrip closed at 1005.20.

Back on soft-track

Infosys was back in the limelight, crossing the Rs 5000-mark once again bringing alive hopes of a further rise. On Monday, at Rs 5216, the stock had touched the upper circuit on the BSE. And on NSE the stock closed the day's trading at Rs 5112.75, up from its Friday close of Rs 4844. The recovery in the stock has been led by the ADRs once again which are on the rise. On Monday, the other software heavyweights - Satyam and Pentafour- and some second rung IT scrips - Rolta and Silverline - were also in the limelight.