Sensex tanks over 223 points in opening trade on global cues

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plummeted by over 223 points in opening trade on Wednesday to trade below the 18,000-mark on continued selling by foreign funds and retail investors, spooked by the continued uncertainty in global markets.

The 30—share barometer, which lost 204.44 points inTuesday’s trade, slid further by 223.32 points, or 1.23 per cent, to below the 18,000—level at 17,886.57 in the first few minutes of trade today.

Similarly, the wide—based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved down by 70.70 points, or 1.29 per cent, to 5,385.85.

Stocks of realty, capital goods, auto, finance and IT companies remained under pressure, dragging down the Sensex.

Market experts said the bearish trading sentiment at home mirrored the weak trend on other Asian bourses in early trade today, following overnight losses in the US market as fears about the health of the global economy were renewed by poor economic data that overshadowed a congressional deal to raise America’s debt ceiling to avoid a first—ever default.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 1.97 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei by 2.21 per cent this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.19 per cent lower in the previous session.