Sensex extends losses, slides 214 points on weak global cues

The 30-share index, which had lost 216.24 points in the previous session, drifted down by 214.13 points, or 0.61%, to 34,735.11 in opening trade.

Benchmark BSE Sensex declined over 214 points in opening trade on Wednesday, extending Tuesday’s fall, tracking a weak trend in global markets amid fresh concerns of a possible China-US trade war.

Unabated capital outflows by foreign funds and profit-booking by retail investors too dampened sentiments.

There was caution among investors ahead of the May month derivatives expiry on Thursday. The 30-share index, which had lost 216.24 points in the previous session, drifted down by 214.13 points, or 0.61%, to 34,735.11.

The NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,600-mark by falling 69.45 points, or 0.65%, to 10,563.85.

All sectoral indices led by bank, oil & gas and capital goods were in the negative zone, slipping up to 1.02%.

Brokers said sustained foreign funds outflows, weak trend at other Asian markets and overnight losses at the Wall Street, rattled by renewed concerns of a possible China-US trade war and political uncertainty in Italy, mainly triggered selling here.

Major losers included Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Yes Bank, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC Ltd, falling by up to 1.92%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 407.33 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 578.38 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Globally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.62%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.79% in early trade today. Shanghai Composite too was down by 2.04%.

The US Dow Jones ended 1.58% lower in Tuesday’s trade.