Sensex falls nearly 76 points in early trade on profit-booking

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell nearly 76 points in early trade on profit-booking by investors in recent gainers, even as retail inflation fell to a three-month low in February.

At 1011 hours, the Sensex was trading down 75.97 points slightly higher than its early morning level or 0.31% at 24,728.31 on the stock exchange. In the early morning trade, the 30-share barometer, which gained 180.94 points in the past two sessions, was trading down 60.95 points or 0.25% at 24,743.33 with healthcare, FMCG, power, oil and gas and metal sector stocks leading the losses.

At 1003 hours, the NSE Nifty recovered slightly from its early morning level but was still trading below the red line at 27.45 points or 0.36% at 7,511.30. In the early morning trade, the NSE Nifty shed 31.25 points or 0.41% to 7,507.50 points.

Brokers said sentiment turned weak despite retail inflation falling to a three-month low of 5.18% in February after rising for five months in a row as food prices including vegetables, pulses and fruits became less costly.

A weak trend in other Asian markets as investors awaited the outcome later in the day of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting and profit-booking after recent gains also weighed on the sentiment, they added.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.76%, Shanghai's Composite Index fell 1.13% while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.04% in their early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.09% higher in Monday's trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE