The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Monday fell by almost 49 points in early trade on continued selling by funds and retail investors. The 30-share Sensex slipped by another 48.80 points to 17,505.50. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also dipped by 23.25 points at 5,228.95 points. Brokers said apart from profit-booking by funds and retail investors, subdued trend on the other Asian bourses, which were down up to 1.8 per cent, mainly triggered selling on the domestic bourses. Stocks of metal, realty, oil and gas and IT sectors were major losers in the early morning session.