Sensex drops 4% in six days on earnings growth worries

New Delhi : Weak global stocks dragged Indian shares to 5-1/2-week closing lows. The BSE Sensex was down 204.44 points or 1.12%, up close to 70 points from the day's low and off close to 175 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries came off the 52-week low. The market sentiment remains edgy, with investors worried that higher interest rates will crimp corporate profit growth. A number of commercial banks have raised lending rates recently after the central bank raised its key lending rate by 50 basis points at a policy review early last week.