Sensex slips over 100 points, Nifty below 6150

Indian stock markets are heading for their fourth consecutive fall as the selling pressure increased during the afternoon trade.

The Sensex opened on a subdued note today, tracking weak global cues, and traded flat for the most part of the early session.

At 3.16 pm, the Sensex was down 136 points at 20,685.87 while Nifty was off 40 points at 6,146.

At its day's low, the Sensex fell as much as 222 points to 20,600.90.

Selling pressure was seen across the board with all the BSE sectoral indices trading in the negative. Banking, consumer goods and oil & gas stocks were among the worst hit, with their sectoral indices down over 1 per cent.

Among the banking stocks, PNB fell over 4 per cent after its Q2 earnings came in below expectations. Other major losers among were HDFC and Axis Bank, each down over 3 per cent.

Weak global markets also weighed on sentiments. Asian shares slumped to a four-week low after Wall Street suffered its biggest fall in more than two months, while a surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank knocked down the euro to a seven-week low. (With Reuters Inputs)