Mumbai: Led by IT stocks, select key stocks suffered a sharp setback and the SENSEX extended its losses for the second successive day on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 4 on fresh selling pressure by operators as well as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).

FIIs, led by a leading foreign fund Morgan Stanley, were reportedly heavy sellers in technology stocks like Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computers, HCL Tech and others including several second-line software shares.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index, which opened firm at 3243.86 as a result of an erroneous entry of the heavyweight counter Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) opening rate as Rs 180 from overnight closing rate of Rs 172.35, later dipped below 3200-level to the intra-day low at 3188.78 before ending at 3207.36 as against yesterday's close of 3230.14, netting a loss of 22.78 points.

The broad-based BSE-100 Index fell sharply by 24.40 points to 1577.19 from previous close of 1601.59.

Attributing the fairly heavy sell-off partly to a sharp setback on Wall Street on December 3 night, brokers said investors also seemed to be disappointed over reports about worsening fiscal situation with the government's mid-year review forecasting a bearish outlook on economic growth as well as fears of a harsh budget for the next fiscal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 106 points and the Nasdaq Composite Index by 28.82 points on December 3.

However, Cipla, Colgate, Glaxo and HPCL scored handsome gains on good buying support.

PTI