Sensex drops to nearly 3-wk low,sheds 47 pts as metal cos hit

The BSE benchmark index, which had lost 171 points in previous two sessions, opened unchanged but dropped 108 points to 17,570.71 as metal counters including Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel and Hindalco fell in the 3-5 per cent range.

After erasing some losses on the back of gains in Infosys, TCS and ITC, Sensex closed at 17,631.71, down 47.10 points or 0.27 per cent over yesterday. This is the lowest closing for the 30-share index since 17,557.74 hit on August 10.

The Parliament failed to transact any business for the sixth straight day today as BJP continued to create ruckus by pressing its demand for resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even as other Opposition parties wanted to take up debate on CAG report and other business.

A weak trend in the Asian region and lower opening in Europe on reports of slowdown in China and Eurozone might continue to hurt global economic growth, further dampened the market sentiment at the domestic front.

"Market sentiment became sceptical after political disagreement over several matters indicated that sturdy reform measures cannot be expected easily in near future," said Nidhi Sarswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 15.65 points, or 0.29 per cent to 5,334.60, after touching the day's low of 5,312.60.

In the metal sector, Jindal Steel sank 4.88 per cent, Sterlite Ind. By 5.13 per cent, Tata Steel by 1.84 per cent and Hindalco by 3.09 per cent.