Mumbai, August 07: Continuing its losing streak for the second consecutive session, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex on Friday fell by 181 points in opening trade on selling by foreign funds and retail investors, tracking other weak Asian markets.
The 30-share index, which had lost nearly 390 points, or 2.45 percent in yesterday’s highly volatile session, lost another 181.16 points, or 1.16 percent at 15,332.87.
Similarly, the Nifty index on the wide-based National Stock Exchange fell by 50.85 points, or 1.10 percent at 4,534.65.
Brokers said selling pressure gathered momentum on the domestic bourses largely following a weakening trend on other Asian bourses.
Stocks of auto, metal and realty sectors, which had risen sharply in the recent rally, were under pressure as funds and investors indulged in booking profits at higher levels.
In the auto sector, Mahindra and Mahindra was down by 2.60 percent at Rs 859, Maruti Suzuki 1.25 percent at Rs 1,346.90 and Tata Motors 2.70 percent at Rs 407.
Sterlite Industries, non-ferrous metals producer, traded 2.17 percent lower at Rs 634, Hindalco lost 1.64 percent at Rs 101.95 and Tata Steel shed 1.47 percent at Rs 448.10.
Other losers were Reliance Industries, which fell by 0.02 percent at Rs 2,046.10, Infosys Technologies by 0.33 percent at Rs 2,047.90, ICICI Bank by 1.08 percent at Rs 757.45, Reliance Infra by 1.15 percent at Rs 1,196, Hero Honda by 1.11 percent at Rs 1,502.50 and DLF Ltd by 1.51 percent at Rs 374.30.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.27 per cent down yesterday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.75 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.24 per cent in morning trade today.
–Agencies