The Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex shed over 190 points at the end of the session on Thursday due to profit-booking in IT, FMCG, Auto and Teck sector stocks amid weak Asian cues.
Fall in food inflation to a three-and-a-half-month low of 9.42 per cent for the week ended March 5 failed to enthuse the investor sentiment.
The Sensex was down 192.55 points at 18,166.14 and the Nifty down 56.6 points at 5,454.55.
Volume toppers during the session were SBI, RCom, Reliance Infra, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank. Major Sensex losers were Infosys, HDFC, ICICI Bank, ITC, RIL, TCS and L&T. RCom, BHEL and Cipla were the major gainers.
Among the sectoral indices, IT was down 1.45 per cent, FMCG 1.3 per cent, Auto 1.1 per cent and Teck 1.06 per cent. Power was up 0.24 per cent and consumer durables 0.18 per cent.
Of the total 2,967 stocks traded, 1,244 advanced, 1,572 declined and 151 remained unchanged.
In the opening session, the Sensex, which gained 191.05 points in the previous session, fell by 149.64 points or 0.81 per cent to 18,209.05, with banking, auto, realty and IT stocks leading the fall.
Likewise, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 57.25 points or 1.03 per cent to 5,453.90.