Sensex declines 225 points in opening trade

Extending its losing streak for the fourth straight session, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sens*x has plunged by over 225 points in opening trade on sustained selling by foreign funds. 

The 30-share index, Sens*x, which had tumbled by nearly 9.45 per cent last week, declined further by 225.20 points, or 1.67 per cent, at 13,279.02, a level last seen in May.

Similarly, the Nifty index on the wide-based National Stock Exchange dipped below the 4,000-points mark by losing 63.50 points, or 1.58 per cent, at 3,940.40.

Stock brokers said weak trends in other Asian bourses on concerns over the global economy mainly dampened the trading sentiments.

Major losers were Reliance Industries, down 1.62 per cent at Rs 1,749.65, Reliance Infra 1.89 per cent at Rs 1,010, RCom 2.21 per cent at Rs 236.80, Tata Power 3.97 per cent at Rs 1,024, Tata Motors 1.26 per cent at Rs 26.50 and Tata Steel 2.79 per cent at Rs 343.55.

Besides, shares of ICICI Bank were down 2.36 per cent at Rs 614, Larsen and Toubro 3.19 per cent at Rs 1,316 and ITC Ltd by 1.95 per cent at Rs 206.40.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei was down by 1.17 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 1.94 per cent in the morning trade.