Sensex down 68 points in opening trade on profit-booking

The 30-share barometer edged lower by 68.80 points or 0.26 per cent to 25,795.67

Mumbai

: The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by over 68 points in opening trade on November 18 due to profit-booking by investors after recent gains despite a firm trend in other Asian markets. The 30-share barometer edged lower by 68.80 points or 0.26 per cent to 25,795.67 with indices led by IT, teck, metal, oil&gas and banking leading the fall.

The index had risen 253.94 points in the last two days. Also, the NSE Nifty was trading lower by 24.45 points or 0.31 per cent at 7,813.10. Brokers said that apart from profit-booking in recent gainers, absence of any positive cues mainly dragged the indices down but a firming trend at other Asian markets, taking lead from overnight gains at the US markets, capped losses.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was quoting higher by 0.30 per cent and Shanghai Composite was up 0.06 per cent higher in early trade. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.72 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.04 per cent higher in Tuesday’s trade.