BSE Sensex falls 0.8 pct; Reliance, L&T drop

By Pratish Narayanan

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex fell 0.8 percent on Monday to its lowest close in two months, as niggling worries about the health of the world economy and uncertainty over corporate earnings reduced risk-appetite across Asia and Europe.

Major losers spanned companies from energy giant Reliance Industries and engineering and construction conglomerate Larsen & Toubro to top telecoms firm

Bharti Airtel.

Analysts said foreign funds, which had been the main driver for the market to rally nearly a half in the June quarter, were on the backfoot now with prospects for a swift world economic recovery fading.

"Risk-appetite abroad is going to determine how well emerging markets perform," Avinash Gupta, assistant vice president of equity research at Bonanza Portfolio Ltd, said from New Delhi.

"To that extent, global markets are going to impact India."

The 30-share BSE index ended down 0.77 percent, or 103.90 points, at 13,400.32, with 21 stocks declining, after falling as much as 2.1 percent during trade.

It was the lowest close since May 15. The next trading day, the benchmark had jumped 17 percent after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition won re-election comfortably and spurred hopes for fast-paced reforms to boost growth.