Thursday, July 13 2006 11:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Tracking global trends, the benchmark index Sensex fell by over 70 points in early trade today on the Bombay Stock Exchange, following selling by funds and retail investors.

The BSE-30 share index which had closed nearly 315 points higher yesterday, was down by 70.76 points at 10,859.33 in the first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 27.40 points at 3168.50.

The major losers which dragged down the Sensex were Reliance Industries, Hero Honda, ICICI Bank, Bharti Tele, ITC Ltd, State Bank of India and Cipla.

However, Infosys Technologies and Grasim Industries remained in the green with small gains.