Mkts fall for 5th day, Sensex tanks 147 pts

Of the 13 BSE sectoral indices, only realty, consumer durables and power logged gains today.

Traders said investor confidence was also hit after the lukewarm response to the 2G telecom spectrum auction raised concerns over the country's widening fiscal deficit. However, telecom stocks, including Bharti Airtel that gained nearly 3 per cent gain, were among winners after the lower-than-estimated prices in the auction cheered investors.

In Asia, barring Japan that closed higher, all other country indices finished with 0.22-1.55 per cent losses.

European stocks were also trading lower in afternoon deals as worries over the US "fiscal cliff" of potential tax hikes and spending cuts kept most buyers on the sidelines.

France's CAC was down by 0.31 per cent, the UK's FTSE by 0.49 per cent and Germany's DAX by 0.52 per cent.

US stock indices yesterday fell to multi-month lows on fears of spending cuts and tax hikes slated to begin in January.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index settled down by 1.45 per cent and 1.28 per cent.

Back home, market analysts said the October inflation data , which is still above the apex bank's tolerance level, did not re-ignite any fresh hopes of rate cut in the RBI's next monetary policy meeting.

22 out of 30 Sensex-based counters today ended lower. Tata Steel was the top loser among Sensex constituents with a fall of 2.66 per cent, followed by ITC (2.57 pc), Jindal Steel (2.32 pc), TCS (2.23 pc), Wipro

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