The S&P BSE Sensex fell for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, to mark its lowest close in nearly 3-1/2 weeks, on continued worries that the US Federal Reserve may hike interest rates by mid-year, dampening the appetite for risky assets.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended the session down by 134.91 points or 0.47 per cent at 28,709.87 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty fell 44.7 points or 0.51 per cent at 8,712.50.

The US dollar hit multi-year highs against the euro and yen on Tuesday on the growing chance of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by mid-year, the prospect of which also hurt stocks and currencies from emerging markets.

The skittish mood spread from Asia to Europe where stocks were down for a second day despite the European Central Bank’s new bond buying campaign continuing to push down the euro and the bloc’s already record-low borrowing costs.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index fell the most by 1.83 per cent, followed by oil & gas 0.78 per cent, power 0.63 per cent and banking 0.49 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was the star-performer and was up 1.2 per cent, followed by TECk 0.78 per cent, metal 0.58 per cent and infrastructure 0.51 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were Bharti Airtel 7.09%, Coal India 3.84%, M&M 1.74%, BHEL 0.8% and Bajaj Auto 0.75%, while the major losers were HDFC 3.89%, Hindalco 2.06%, HUL 1.81%, Sun Pharma 1.58% and Tata Power 1.34%.

Domestic sentiment was also hit as investors remained cautious ahead of release of IIP numbers for January and CPI data for February on Thursday.

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