Sensex below 17K, falls 371 points

Snapping a six-day rally, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Monday tumbled by 371 points on profit-taking at existing higher levels amid a weakening global trend.

The Sensex dropped by 370.68 points, or 2.15 per cent, to 16,863.30 points. The 30-share index had gained over 782 points in the last six trading sessions.

The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 117.40 points, or 2.26 per cent, to close at 5,087.30 points with engineering, power and realty stocks plunging up to 5.55 per cent.

A weak trend in the Asian region and lower opening in Europe dampened the market sentiment, brokers said.

Market major Reliance Industries plunged 2.71 per cent to Rs 795.45 ahead of its plan to buy-back stocks, while Infosys lost 0.54 per cent to Rs 2,705.90 on fears the financial turmoil in Europe might hurt earnings.

Power equipment maker BHEL led the fall in the sector after posting disappointing quarterly profits. BHEL tumbled 10.41 per cent to Rs 245.15 and Larsen and Toubro by 5.37 per cent to Rs 1,307.35.

Among banking stocks, private lender ICICI Bank fell by 4.07 per cent to Rs 851.95 and state-run State Bank of India lost 2.54 per cent to Rs 1,990.70.

The capital goods sector index suffered the most by losing 5.55 per cent to 9,784.77, followed by the power index which lost 3.54 per cent to Rs 2,046.81.

The realty index fell by 3.10 per cent to 1,650.21 and metal index by 2.85 per cent to Rs 11,246.38.