Mumbai, Aug 24: The BSE benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 89 points in early trade today as funds and retail investors preferred to book profits amid a weak trend in Asian region.
The 30-share index, which had ended marginally higher by 3.36 points in yesterday's volatile session, fell by 88.71 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 17,761.51, with stocks of metals, auto and realty sectors leading the fall.
Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 34.45 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,380.90.
Marketmen said profit-booking by speculators, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street and European markets on dim growth outlook, mainly influenced the trading sentiment here.
In Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.17 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei Index shed 1.24 per cent in the morning trade today.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 0.88 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.
