Mumbai: After a promising start, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Tuesday fell by over 250 points on fag-end selling across counters barring consumer durables.
The bellwether index closed lower by 207.59 points at 8,695.53, with heavyweight Reliance Industries taking a big hit of over 6%.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also closed down by 54.25 points at 2,654.00.
Markets had surged in the morning with the Sensex gaining over 270 points to breach the 9,000 level again on strong cues in Asian bourses after shares rallied in US on Monday.
However, it was a straight fall then as the European stock markets opened lower by 1.0-2.0%.
The Planning Commission’s observations that economic growth would be lower at seven per cent this fiscal against 9% in 2007-08 dampened the sentiment.
Amidst reports of a likely a cut in fuel prices, oil and gas sector index lost 3.86% - the highest among all indices on Tuesday at 5409.37.