9:00AM New York, 7:30PM Mumbai - Sensex stocks fell, dragged by cement and IT shares.

On the second day of 2008, the Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell on loses recorded in cement and IT shares and in large cap stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex eased 0.6% or 120.10 at 20,345.20 and CNX Nifty fell 0.1% to 6,178.55.

Cement stocks declined on heavy selling following government''s warning that it will take over all cement factories, which defy its directive to control cement prices.

Grasim led the losers from the Sensex index. The stock plunged 4% to 3,606 rupees. ACC fell 1.8% to 1,004 rupees, India Cements retreated 2.9% to 298 rupees while Ambuja Cements fell 1.7% to 146 rupees.

IT shares also extended their recent loses on the BSE. Loses were also visible in TCS Wipro, Satyam Computers and Infosys Technologies.

Oil exploration shares were on rise on surging crude oil price while oil marketing stock traded higher on the local news reports that government was considering cutting exercise duty on oil firms to reduce tax recoveries in oil firms.

Of the stocks traded on the BSE, 1,677 shares advanced, 1,199 stocks declined and 25 remained unchanged. Among the index shares, 24 advanced while the rest fell.

On BSE, 6.07 lakh shares were traded.

Turnover on the BSE stood at 10,785 crore rupees, lifted Reliance Natural Resources was the top traded stock on the BSE. It netted a turnover of 521.85 crore rupees. Burnpur Cement revenues stood at 462.58 crore rupees, Reliance Energy turnover was 395.39 rupees.

The National Stock Exchange revenue stood at 24,710 crore rupees.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong''s Hang Seng slid 2.4% at 26,887.28, Taiwan''s Taiwan Weighted fell 1.7% at 8,184.20, Singapore''s Straits Times shed 1.9% at 3,397.06 and South Korea''s Kospi retreated 0.04% at 1,852.5.

Government is considering a marginal increase in fuel prices to reduce losses for oil utilities in light of the soaring crude oil price. Crude oil for February delivery increased $3.64, or 3.8%, to $99.62 per barrel after touching $100 per barrel earlier in the session on Wednesday.

The record price in oil since the start of the commodity trading in 1983, has stoked inflation expectation in the country.

Government ministers are expected to meet sometimes next week to look at alternatives including price hike and a reduction in excise duty.

Crude oil prices reached an all-time high of $100 dollars a barrel on Wednesday in New York Mercantile Exchange, triggering fears of more losses for the utilities controlled by the government.

Of the BSE shares, TCS fell 2.9% to 1,018.35 rupees, Wipro shed 2.9% to 496.25 rupees, and Satyam Computers fell 2.52% to 425.50 rupees while Infosys Technologies closed weaker at 2% to 1,715.2 rupees.

Oil & Natural Gas Corporation rose 3.9% to 1,319.45 rupees. Cairn India jumped 4.8% to 254.95 rupees, Selan Exploration Technology was up 20% to 219.80 rupees, Asian Oilfield Services gained 5% to 385.7 rupees, Jindal Drilling & Industries advanced 2.5% to 1,521 rupees and Aban Offshore surged 0.5% to 5,100.15 rupees.

National Thermal Power Corporation with a rise of 6.8% to 274.7 rupees led the advancers in the Sensex index.

Reliance Energy added 6.1% to 2,513.4 rupees. Reliance Industries advanced 1.2% to 2,898 rupees, recovering from session''s low of 2831.1 rupees.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation gained 6.8% to 399.7 rupees, Bharat Petroleum Corporation surged 4.3% to 538 rupees and Indian Oil Corporation jumped 1.1% to 780.4 rupees.