The benchmark BSE Sensex on Tuesday fell by nearly 24 points in early trade as funds and retail investors booked profits after two sessions of gains.
HT Image
The 30-share barometer, which gained 417.84 points in the previous two sessions, moved down by 23.85 points, or 0.11%, to 21,110.36, with auto, power and realty sector stocks falling the most.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty, moved down 3.15 points, or 0.05%, to 6,269.60.
Brokers said besides profit-booking by speculators, a weak trend on other Asian bourses, tracking a drop on the US markets after weaker-than-expected jobs data, influenced the sentiment here.
They said, however, easing retail inflation which slowed to three-month low of 9.87% in December, giving the RBI more leeway to manage interest rates, capped the losses.
In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was trading 2.05% down, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.86% in early trade today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.09% lower in Monday's trade.