The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today dropped by over 150 points to cut

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short three days of winning streak with investors turning cautious after a hike in petrol prices ahead of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy review tomorrow.

The 30-share Sensex fell by 151.42 points to 19,647.77 on emergence of selling in interest rate-linked banking and realty stocks. Today's loss partially wiped off the 550-point gain in the past three trading sessions.

In a similar fashion, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost 51.80 points to 5,892.30.

Marketmen said selling was more or less confined to banking and realty sectors ahead of RBI monetary policy review tomorrow. Investors speculated that the apex bank will signal a hike in interest rates to anchor inflationary expectations in view of petrol prices going up.

Trading sentiment was also influenced by a steep fall in the Asian region and lower opening in Europe after Moody's rating agency placed Spain on review for a possible down grade, sparking fresh worries over the Euro-zone debt crisis.

Marketmen said sentiment was also jolted by deepening crisis in the 2G spectrum lincensing scam following reports of CBI raids in several places in Tamil Nadu and residential premises of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, former TRAI Chairman Pradip Baijal.

The realty sector index suffered was the worst hit at 3.53 per cent. Investors feared a hike in interest rate might slow down construction business and sale of homes.

Unitech suffered major losses. Unitech, the second biggest developer by assets, fell by 2.21 per cent to Rs 61.90 after the company’s mobile-phone joint venture received a government order asking it explain why the telecom licence should not be cancelled.

The banking sector index was second worst performer by losing 3.18 per cent. ICICI Bank lost 3.65 per cent to Rs 1,078.05 and State Bank of India 3.46 per cent to Rs 2,696.05.

The oil and gas sector index fell by 0.09 per cent to 10,647.96 following a hike in petrol prices.

Bucking the general weakening trend, stocks in IT and teck sectors gained on signs of US economic recovery.

Markets @ 02.30 PM (Reuters)

The BSE Sensex fell 1 percent on Wednesday afternoon, with financials leading the decline as oil marketing companies raised petrol prices, fuelling inflation concerns.

At 2:34 p.m. (0904 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was down 1 percent at 19,593.58 points, with 25 components declining.

The 50-share NSE index was down 1.2 percent at 5,873.70 points.

Markets @ 09.00 AM (PTI)

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 77 points in the opening trade today, on profit-booking by funds amid a weak trend in the Asian region.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 550 points in last three session, fell by 76.80 points or 0.38 per cent, to 19,722.39 points in first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also declined by 26.35 points or 0.44 per cent to trade at 5,917.75 points.

The market analysts attributed the decline to profit-booking by investors after the stocks rally for the previous three trading sessions.

Besides, other Asian markets were also in red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 0.60 per cent down, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.04 per cent low in the early trade today.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.42 points higher in yesterday's trade.