Sensex falls to near two-week closing lows

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty fell for a third consecutive session on Tuesday to mark their lowest close in nearly two weeks, as interest-rate sensitive stocks declined after the central bank held rates steady, while boosting banks' liquidity in a bid to persuade them to lower lending rates.

Stocks continued their retreat from record highs hit last week after the Reserve Bank of India kept its policy repo rate unchanged at 7.75 percent, leaving its next reduction probably until after the government presents its annual budget at the end of this month.

Falls also tracked selling by overseas investors worth 6.3 billion rupees on Monday, after 11 continuous days of buying and a total of $2.9 billion of stock buying so far this year, provisional exchange and regulatory data showed.

The BSE Sensex fell 0.42 percent, while the broader Nifty ended 0.46 percent lower, marking their lowest close since Jan.21.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)