The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 262 points in the early trade today. It was trading at 18174, down by over 311 points a short while ago. Analysts said the fall in Sensex is due to fresh spell of sell-off by funds, triggered by political worries and a weak trend on other Asian bourses. Meanwhile, in other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.62 per cent in the morning trade while the US's Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.72 per cent down on Friday last.