Sensex down 71 pts in early trade ahead of GDP data

The BSE benchmark Sensex today fell over 71 points in early trade, dragged down by realty, power, capital goods and oil and gas sector stocks, on fresh selling by funds and retail investors ahead of GDP data for the the first quarter.
Besides, profit-booking by speculators after yesterday's strong rally also weighed on sentiment.
The 30-share index fell by 71.68 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 18,329.46. Sensex has rallied nearly 433 points in the previous two sessions.
On similar lines, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 23.40 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 5,385.65.
Brokers said selling by funds and profit-booking by speculators ahead the gross domestic product (GDP) data for the first quarter ended June 2013, to be released later in the day, and a weak trend on the other Asian bourses mainly dampened the trading sentiment.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.12 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei Index shed 0.67 per cent in early trade.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.11 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.