Sensex extends losses, down 66 points; Nifty below 10,400

Mumbai Market benchmark BSE Sensex extended losses for the third straight day by shedding over 66 points in early trade today on selling by domestic institutional investors and foreign funds amid mixed Asian cues.

Also, selling pressure in oil & gas, FMCG, metal, PSU, bank and power stocks amid a depreciating rupee to weighed on market sentiment.

The BSE 30-share index slipped 66.48 points, or 0.19 %, to 33,769.26. The benchmark had lost 82.20 points in the previous two sessions.

Major laggards were Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, falling by up to 0.75 %.

NSE Nifty was trading down by 21.05 points, or 0.20 %, at 10,389.85.

Gitanjali Gems stock continued its downturn, cracking 4.78 % to Rs 12.95.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 432.03 crore, and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also sold shares of Rs 258.98 crore yesterday.

Asian markets were trading lower following a decline on Wall Street overnight. Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.47 %, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.03 %. Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.04 % in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended 1 % lower yesterday.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)