Sensex declines by 117 pts in early trade

STOCKS DOWN: A share broker reacts to depressed markets. Sensex was down 117 points at opening trade on Wednesday. File photo

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today fell by nearly 117 points in early trade on fresh selling by retail investors and foreign funds triggered by weak global cues.

The Sensex moved down by 116.86 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 17,110.82 points in early trade. The 30-share index had gained 244.54 points in previous trade.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 38 points to 5,109.95.

Brokers said weak trends on the Asian markets after overnight losses on the US stock markets triggered the selling by foreign funds. Profit-taking by retail investors also dampened the trading sentiment.

Heavy-weight Reliance Industries fell 0.51 per cent to Rs 1,074.75 on profit-taking after yesterday’s strong rally, while Reliance Infra shed 0.45 per cent to Rs 1,066.55.

Among other major losers, Infosys dipped by 0.54 per cent to Rs 2,427, Wipro by 0.52 per cent to Rs 644.25, Sterlite by 1.73 per cent to Rs 848, Tata Steel by 1.57 per cent to Rs 559.60 and Maruti Suzuki by 0.26 per cent to Rs 1,565.

State Bank of India was down 0.25 per cent at Rs 2,301.40, ICICI Bank by 0.92 per cent at Rs 864 and HDFC Bank by 0.21 per cent at Rs 1,826.

The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.70 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.3 per cent in the morning trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1 per cent down in yesterday’s trade.