Sensex down 103 points ahead of RBI policy

The BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 103 points in early trade on Thursday as funds and retail investors booked profits ahead of RBI's monetary policy review later in the day.

Brokers said emergence of profit-booking after recent gains as participants adopted cautious approach ahead of the Reserve Bank's mid-quarterly review of the monetary policy to be announced later on Thursday, put pressure on the stock prices.

The Economic Survey, which is the summary and analysis how the economy fared in the past fiscal year, will also be tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 773 points in the past four sessions, declined by 103.08 points, or 0.58%, to 17,816.22 with all the sectoral indices, led by realty and metals, falling by up to 1.78%.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also moved down by 26.95 points, or 0.49%, to 5,436.50.

Meanwhile, in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.02%, while Japan's Nikkei rose by 0.62% in early trade on Thursday.