Sensex recovers some early losses, still ends down by 21 pts

Mumbai, Feb 24: The benchmark Sensex recovered its initial sharp losses following the government's decision to cut excise duty but still ended in negative terrain, down by over 21 points at 8,822.06, on the back of weak global cues.
The market got a boost after the government today announced a four per cent across-the-board excise duty cut to continue beyond March 31, 2009, and also reduced excise duty rates by two per cent to bring it down to 8 per cent.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensex touched an intra-day low of 8,619.22, the level not seen since December 3, 2008, before recovering to settle at 8,822.06, a mere fall of 21.15 points or 0.24 per cent over the last close. At the day's lower level, the index was down by nearly 224 points.

The 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange closed nearly flat at 2,733.90 from 2,736.45 previously. Metal and banking counters mainly attracted heavy profit booking while small-cap and mid-cap shares also suffered sharp setbacks on selling by retail investors. PTI