Sensex falls 228 points, ends below 33,300-mark

New Delhi: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday fell 228 points to end below 33,300-mark on selling pressure amid concerns that higher global crude oil prices could stoke inflation and impact future interest rate decisions by the Reserve Bank of India.

Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for oil prices, jumped above USD 65 per barrel for the first time since 2015 after the shutdown of the Forties North Sea pipeline knocked out significant supply from a market that was already tightening due to OPEC-led production cuts.

The Sensex closed lower by 227.80 points or 0.68 percent at 33,227.99. The gauge had rallied 858.61 points in the previous three sessions. The broader Nifty too settled below the key 10,300-level, down 82.10 points, or 0.80 percent, at 10,240.15.

Unwinding of positions in blue-chip stocks by participants ahead of index of industrial production (IIP) data and retail inflation, to be released after market hours today also dragged stocks down.

The Federal Reserve, which is scheduled to issue an interest rate policy update on Wednesday, kicks off its meeting. It is expected to lift rates by 0.25 percent.

Major losers were Hindustan Petroleum, Bharti Infratel, BPCL, Coal India and Eicher Motors, falling by up to 4.20 percent.

In Asia, Tokyo`s Nikkei ended down 0.3 percent, while Shanghai sank more than one percent by the close and Hong Kong was off 0.6 percent. Seoul shed 0.4 percent, Singapore was off 0.2 percent and Taipei eased 0.3 percent. Manila, Bangkok and Jakarta were also lower, though Sydney closed up 0.3 percent. 

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.23 percent higher yesterday.