Sensex slides further by 149 points in early trade today

The BSE Sensex fell over 149 points and the NSE Nifty broke below the 8,800-mark in early trade today amid weak global cues.Sentiment remained downbeat as investors went about booking profits in recent gainers.

The 30-share barometer declined 149.22 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 28,519, with sectoral indices led by realty, banking and auto accounting for much of the losses, falling by up to 0.94 per cent. The index had lost 104.91 points in the previous session on Friday.

Also, the NSE Nifty was trading lower by 42.10 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 8,789.45.Brokers said that apart



from profit-booking, a weak trend in Asia on lower oil prices and decline on the Wall Street last week kept the domestic bourses here on a sticky wicket.Shares of ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, HDFC, ITC, Infosys, NTPC, Asian Paints, Axis Bank, Cipla and SBI saw selling pressure, which dragged down the indices.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.86 per cent while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.84 per cent in their early deals, tracking weekend losses in the US. Shanghai Composite too was quoting 0.62 per cent lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.71 per cent down on Friday.