Profit booking keeps mkts back in red

• BSE Sensex fell by 801.67 pts or 1.11% to 71,139.90
• During the day, Sensex plummeted 865.85 pts or 1.20% to 71,075.72
• Nifty declined 215.50 pts or 0.99% to 21,522.10
• Bajaj Finance, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, RIL, ITC and NTPC were laggards
• Tata Motors, SBI, HUL, Power Grid, Tech M and TCS were gainers

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices declined on Tuesday, a day after recording sharp gains, with the BSE Sensex falling over 1 per cent due to selling in Reliance Industries, ITC and Bajaj Finance.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 801.67 points or 1.11 per cent to settle at 71,139.90. During the day, it plummeted 865.85 points or 1.20 per cent to 71,075.72. The Nifty declined 215.50 points or 0.99 per cent to 21,522.10. Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance fell by 5.03 per cent after its December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. Titan, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, ITC and NTPC were among the other major laggards. Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo settled in the positive territory while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower. European markets were trading with gains. The US markets ended higher on Monday. The BSE benchmark jumped 1,240.90 points or 1.76 per cent to settle at 71,941.57 on Monday. The Nifty climbed 385 points or 1.80 per cent to 21,737.60. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.21 per cent to $82.57 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)