Sensex falls 91 pts to 1-mth low

Extending losses for the fourth straight day, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday fell by over 91 points to end at one-month low level of 19,659.82 due to selling in ITC, RIL and ICICI Bank amid weak Asian cues.

All-round selling was seen in 12 out of 13 sectoral indices, while only healthcare index ended with gains as pharma counters saw some buying.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer resumed weak and remained in negative zone throughout the day, moving in a narrow range of over 85 points.

With 19 of the 30-share Sensex ending with losses, the index settled down by 91.37 points or 0.46 per cent at 19,659.82 -- the lowest closing since January 1, when it had ended at 19,580.81. The index has tumbled by 345.18 points or 1.73 per cent in the past four sessions.

"Indian markets succumbed to profit booking, on back of weak international cues," said Nagji K Rita, CMD, Inventure Growth & Securities. Similarly, the CNX Nifty of NSE dipped by 30.35 points, or 0.51 per cent, to a three-week low of 5,956.90.

Consumer durable, FMCG, Power, Metal, Oil&Gas and banking stocks mainly suffered sharp to moderate losses.

Fall in ITC, RIL, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors that declined in 1.1-1.6 per cent range together extracted over 80 points from Sensex. Bhel was the worst Sensex performer as it lost over 3.1 per cent today. However, Sun Pharma was up 4 per cent after USFDA approved its generic version of ovarian cancer drug, Doxil.

Weak closing in Asia on the back of steep fall on Wall Street yesterday on Eurozone worries, affected domestic markets, said brokers. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.32 per cent, Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.93 per cent while Taiwan's weighted index and Korea's KOSPI lost around 1 per cent each.