Sensex sheds 65 pts, Nifty 22 on weak Asia - stocks to watch: Godrej Industries, JSW Steel

The BSE benchmark Sensex today declined by 65 points in early trade on sustained selling by funds amid a weakening trend on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share barometer fell by 64.99 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 19,574.73 in first five minutes of trading. The index had lost almost 366 points in past five sessions.

Stocks of power, capital goods, metal, consumer durable and banking sectors declined due to profit-booking.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 22.75 points, or 0.38 per cent, to 5,936.45.

Brokers said sustained selling by funds amid weakening trend on other Asian bourses mainly influenced the trading sentiment.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei Index was down 0.97 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.39 per cent in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0,05 per cent up in yesterday's trade.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP

* Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.2 percent. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index, excluding Japan rose 0.3 percent.

* Asian shares edged lower ahead of a European Central Bank policy decision and remarks from ECB President Mario Draghi on prospects for the euro zone economy.

* US stocks ended mostly flat on Wednesday, taking another pause in the recent rally that has driven the S&P 500 to five-year highs, as transportation and technology shares lost ground.

* Sensex fell for 5th day, NTPC, Coal India shares down over 2%, Nifty positive at close on Wednesday.

FACTORS TO WATCH

* Advance 2012/13 GDP data (0530 GMT)

* Last day of two-day Reserve Bank of India board meeting

* The Indian government to sell about $2.14 billion worth of shares in NTPC Ltd. The floor price has been set at 145 rupees, or a 4.5 percent discount to its Wednesday's close.

* ACC Ltd, Ambuja Cements Ltd quarterly earnings.

... contd.

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