Sensex down 143 points in early morning trade

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by over 143 points in early trade today afer two days of gains as investors indulged in cutting down bets on disappointing macroeconomic data and mixed trend in Asian markets.

The 30-share barometer declined by 143.04 points or 0.53 per cent to 26,604.14 with IT, FMCG, banking, auto and realty stocks trading in the red, falling by up to 1.17 per cent.

The gauge had gained 510.31 points in the previous two sessions. The NSE Nifty was quoting 49.95 points, or 0.60 per cent down at 8,211.80. Brokers said market sentiment took a hit after IIP data, which was released after trading hours on Friday, showed industrial output slipping to the negative territory again with a contraction of 1.9 per cent in October, mainly due to sharp decline in production of capital goods and poor performance of the manufacturing sector.

Retail inflation data is scheduled to be released tomorrow while WPI inflation is due on Wednesday. A mixed trend in other Asian bourses also influenced sentiment here, the brokers said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 1.11 per cent, Shanghai's Composite index fell 2.03 per cent while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.77 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.72 per cent higher in Friday's trade.