The BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 64 points in early trade on Thursday on fresh selling in realty, auto, IT and banking stocks on the back of lower Asian cues.
The BSE benchmark Sensex resumed lower at 17,056.61 and hovered in a range between 17,155.33 and 17,012.95 before quoting at 17,066.41 at 1015 hours, showing a net loss of 64.10 points, or 0.37 per cent, from its last close.
The NSE’s 50-share Nifty index also moved down by 20.90 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 5,140.10 at 1015 hours.
IT stocks fell on European debt worries. Europe is the second biggest market for Indian IT firms after the US.
The major losers in early trade were Tata Power (down 2.42 per cent), Tata Motor (2.00 per cent), DLF (1.91 per cent), M&M (1.77 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.70 per cent), Bharti airtel (1.51 per cent), TCS (1.46 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (1.26 per cent).
Meanwhile, Asian stocks dropped in early trade as fresh worries about Europe’s sovereign-debt troubles soured the trading sentiment. The key benchmark indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan fell by between 0.78 per cent and 1.82 per cent.
In contrast, the benchmark indices in China and South Korea rose by about 0.04 per cent and 0.43 per cent, respectively.
