Sensex falls 82 pts in early trade on profit-booking

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 82 points to 26,544.21 in early trade today as funds and retail investors booked profits after gains in the previous session amid a mixed trend in the Asian region.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained 157.96 points in the previous session after S&P upgraded India's outlook to stable from negative, moved down by 82.11 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 26,544.21, led by weakness in metal, PSU, capital goods, FMCG, auto and oil & gas sector stocks largely on profit-booking.

Also, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 29.75 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 7,939.10.

Brokers said apart from profit-booking by cautious participants ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review tomorrow, a mixed trend at other Asian markets influenced sentiments here.

They said sustained selling by foreign funds on the domestic bourses too had its negative impact.

Among other Asian bourses, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.18 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.67 per cent higher in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.99 per cent higher in Friday's trade.