Opening bell: Sensex extends losses on global trade war worries

The BSE Sensex fell over 132 points  in opening trade on Tuesday as investors pared their bets, tracking sharp losses in global markets on worries about an intensifying trade conflict between the US and its trade partners.

Cutting down of positions by participants in view of approaching June derivatives contract expiry on Thursday added to the downward pressure, brokers said.

The BSE 30-share barometer fell 132.26 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 35,338.09. The gauge had lost 219.25 points in the previous session.

The laggards were Tata Motors, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, SBI, Adani Ports, RIL, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki and IndusInd Bank, declining up to 1.74 per cent.

Sectoral indices led by consumer durables, power, banking, auto, metal and PSU stocks were in the negative terrain, falling by up to 0.59 per cent.

The NSE Nifty also slipped 29.90 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 10,732.55.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 86.22 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 198.68 crore on Monday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

A weak trend at other Asian bourses following overnight losses in US markets dampened sentiment.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.92 per cent while Shanghai Composite fell 0.83 per cent in early trade on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei edged lower by 0.30 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 1.33 per cent lower on Monday.