Benchmark Sensex remained on edge as it fell further by about 142 points in early trade on Wednesday, extending Tuesday’s fall, on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and selling by retail investors amid subdued Asian shares.
There was caution among investors ahead of the derivatives expiry and the railway budget on Thursday. The 30-share index, which had lost 379 points in the previous session, plunged to 23,268.29, a fall of 141.89 points, or 0.60 per cent. The NSE Nifty cracked below the 7,100-mark, by falling 47.10 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 7,062.45.
All sectoral indices led by metal, bank and PSU slipped into the negative zone with a fall of up to 1.93 per cent. Brokers said market sentiment was fragile following FII pullout as Asia turned decisively weaker following lacklustre European and U.S. economic data and a drop in oil prices.
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.37 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.65 per cent in early trade. Shanghai Composite was lower by 0.28 per cent.
The U.S. Dow Jones ended down by 1.14 per cent in Tuesday’s trade.