Sensex down 130 points in early trade on weak global cues

The benchmark BSE Sensex tanked about 130 points in early trade on continued selling by participants, tracking losses in Asian shares.

Caution ahead of expiry of April contracts in the derivatives segment on Thursday also influenced sentiment.

At 1018 hours, Sensex was trading at 25,648.21, down 30.72 points or 0.12% from previous day's close.

Falling for the third straight session, the 30-share barometer fell by 129.88 points, or 0.50%, to 25,549.05.

The index had fallen by 201.45 points in the previous two straight sessions.

Sectoral indices led by consumer durables, FMCG, banking, healthcare, capital goods, auto and IT were trading in the negative zone, falling up to 1.09%.

Also, the NSE Nifty shed 32.15 points, or 0.40%, to 7,822.90.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki were trading 0.25% down at Rs 3,725 ahead of fourth quarter earnings, to be released later on Tuesday.

Apart from persistent profit-booking by investors in recent outperformers, a weak trend at other Asian markets ahead of US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting beginning later in the day pulled the indices down, brokers said.

Moreover, persistent selling by domestic financial institutions negatively impacted sentiment, they said.

While Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 1% and Japan's Nikkei fell by 1.26%, the Shanghai Composite Index was quoting 0.28% lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.15% lower in Monday's trade after staying in the positive zone for most part of the day.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE