Sensex down 135 points in early trade

The BSE benchmark index Sensex on Wednesday declined by over 135 points in early trade after the International Monetary Fund lowered its projection of India’s growth rate. The 30-share index, which had gained 88.51 points in the previous sessions, fell by 135.16 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 19,848.45 with banking, realty, consumer durables, capital goods and oil and gas sector stocks coming under pressure.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shed 50.20 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 5,878.20. Brokers said selling by funds after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday lowered its projection of India’s growth rate to 3.75 per cent in 2013 from 5.7 per cent estimated earlier dampened the trading sentiments here.

Besides, a mixed trend on the Asian bourses following overnight losses on the US market triggered selling, they said. In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei was up by 0.44 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.62 per cent in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.07 per cent lower on Tuesday.