Sensex extends losses, down 66 pts; Nifty below 10,400

Market benchmark BSE Sensex extended losses for the third straight day by shedding over 66 points in early trade today on selling by domestic institutional investors and foreign funds amid mixed Asian cues.

Also, selling pressure in oil & gas, FMCG, metal, PSU, bank and power stocks amid a depreciating rupee to weighed on market sentiment.

The BSE 30-share index slipped 66.48 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 33,769.26. The benchmark had lost 82.20 points in the previous two sessions.

Major laggards were Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, falling by up to 0.75 per cent.

NSE Nifty was trading down by 21.05 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 10,389.85.

Gitanjali Gems stock continued its downturn, cracking 4.78 per cent to Rs 12.95.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 432.03 crore, and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also sold shares of Rs 258.98 crore yesterday.

Asian markets were trading lower following a decline on Wall Street overnight. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.47 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.03 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.04 per cent in early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended 1 per cent lower yesterday.