Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Sensex opens 153 points lower on profit-booking, global cues

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 153 points in opening trade on Thursday as investors booked profits recorded during the previous two sessions amid a weak trend on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share barometer, which gained almost 247 points in the previous two sessions, declined by 152.95 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 18,317.00 in the first few minutes of trade today, with all the sectoral indices trading in the negative zone with losses of up to 1 per cent.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 45 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 5,486.00 points.

Brokers said in addition to profit-booking by market participants after two sessions of gains, a weakening trend on other Asian boures on concerns over higher oil prices and the unrest in Libya spreading to other Middle East countries also cast a shadow over the trading sentiment.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.60 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell by 1.29 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.01 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.

toi

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