Sensex down 31 pts in opening trade

The 30-share index, which had lost 34.58 points in the previous session, fell by 31.29 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 19,274.03 in first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index shed 8.70 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 5,862.25.

Brokers said besides profit-booking by investors after recent hefty gains, a cautious approach ahead of voting in Parliament on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail dampened the sentiments.

Further, a weakening trend on the other Asian markets in line with overnight losses on the US markets after poor data in the manufacturing sector in November triggered selling, they said.

Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.33 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.14 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.46 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.