Sensex falls 301 pts at closing; touches six-week low

The Sensex falls by a further 301.14 points to 16,348.50, after touching the day's low of 16,300.88 and high of 16,498.24 points.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell for the third straight session on Tuesday, to touch a six week low of 16,348.50 on brisk selling in heavy-weight stocks led by BHEL and HDFC Ltd.

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The Sensex, which had been on a falling spree since last two trading sessions, fell by a further 301.14 points to 16,348.50, after touching the day's low of 16,300.88 and high of 16,498.24 points.

The key index closed at the same level on April 16.

The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange lost 71.50 points at 4,875.05. It dipped to a low of 4,858 and rose to 4,953.60 points during the day.

Metal index suffered the most by losing 452.59 points at 16,343.21 followed by capital goods index by 358.74 points at 12,833.68. Banking index dropped by 292.91 points at 7,939.25.

Capital goods sector plunged led by BHEL stocks following reports of a fall in quarterly earnings by the company. The state-run firm had its biggest decline in more than seven weeks as higher wage and raw material costs cut earnings, prompting Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to slash estimates for the shares.