Sensex falls 140 pts on high oil prices and strong rupee

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex fell 140 points to 19,451.45 due to persistent selling pressure on concerns over corporate earnings as crude oil prices rose to over two year highs and the strengthening of the rupee, which hit IT stocks.
Realty and Auto stocks fell on profit booking after the recent strong gains. Banking shares dropped on worries as high inflation and rising interest rates could hurt future profits.
The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex resumed higher at 19,602.81 and shot up further to the day’s high of 19,697.21. However, it failed to maintain initial gains on profit-booking and declined to 19,388.42 before finishing at 19,451.45 – down 139.73 points or 0.71 per cent.
Sensex lost 111 points in the previous three sessions.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped by 43.70 points or 0.74 per cent to finish at 5,842.00.