Sensex falls 123 pts as investors book profit in RIL, banks, auto stocks

The 30-share BSE barometer closed at 52,852 levels, down 123.5 points or 0.23 per cent, while its NSE counterpart shut shop 32 points or 0.2 per cent lower at 15,824-mark. The broader markets, however, outperformed the frontline indices with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices adding 0.06 per cent and 0.34 per cent, respectively.

Globally, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged over 4 per cent while South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.9 per cent. Japan's Nikkei, meanwhile, gained 1 per cent. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.34 per cent in early deals. Moreover, all three main Wall Street indices were trading in the red too.