Sensex down 204 pts on weak rupee

Besides,25 of the 30 Sensex scrips ended the session in the red with Lamp;T and BHEL hitting 52-week lows. Heavyweight Reliance Industries fell over 3 per cent.

Initially,Sensex touched a high of 15,448.13 on mixed Asia markets. It then declined and fell sharply at the fag end to settle at 15,175.08 8212; down 204.26 points or 1.33 per cent.

Sensex has tumbled 827.52 points or 5.17 per cent in the past five sessions.

Analysts said investors are concerned over the slowdown in the economy and the falling rupee,which has declined to Rs 53.03 per US dollar from Rs 45 a few months ago,making imports costly.

Besides,overseas markets continue to be weak on persisting worries about the euro-zone debt troubles and slowdown in global growth environment.

Indian equities market has witnessed continuous selling in the last few sessions. Moreover high inflation,lower than expected GDP growth have a negative sentiment in the market,8221; said Parag Doctor,Associate VP,Motilal Oswal Securities.

The government delay in policy implementation and higher fiscal deficit are major concerns in the market,he added.

The downtrend continued for yet another day,with heightened volatility. Interest rate sensitive sectors like banks,capital goods and realty continued to reel under pressure,8221; said Shanu Goel,Sr Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.

The NSE 50-issue index,Nifty,dipped another 68.90 points or 1.49 per cent to a new 28-month low of 4,544.20.

FIIs continued the selling spree. They have offloaded shares worth Rs 1,928.90 crore in last seven sessions as per the data of market regulation Sebi.

Global markets showed mixed trend. Key indices in China,Singapore ended with small losses,while Hong Kong,Japan,South Korea and Taiwan made small gains. European markets were quoting mixed in the afternoon.

Major losers from the Sensex pack were Jaiprakash 7.26 pc,followed by Tata Steel 5.27 pc,Tata Power 5.23 pc,Hero MotoCorp 5.16 pc,Lamp;T 5.14 pc,Hindalco 4.45 pc,Bharti Airtel 4.03 pc,Jindal Steel 3.98 pc,NTPC 3.52 pc,RIL 3.03 pc,SBI 2.99 pc,Tata Motors 2.78 pc,Bajaj Auto 2.41 pc,Sterlite 2.06 pc,DLF 1.93 pc and BHEL 1.21 pc.

However,ONGC rose 2.39 pc,HDFC Bank 8211; 1.98 pc and ITC by 1.11 pc. Among the sectoral indices,Capital Goods plunged 3.50 per cent,Metals 3.48 pc,Realty 2.71 pc,Power 2.59 pc and Auto 2.44 pc.

The total market breadth on the BSE remained negative as 1,877 stocks closed with losses,while 862 ended with gains.

The total turnover was low at Rs 1,908.10 crore,as against Rs 1,844.17 crore yesterday.