Sensex slides nearly 55 points in early trade on profit-booking, Asian cues

Benchmark BSE Sensex fell nearly 55 points in early trade on Thursday due to profit-booking in banking, FMCG, capital goods, oil&gas and healthcare stocks coupled with weak Asian cues.

The 30-share index fell by 54.87 points or 0.20% to 26,659.06. The gauge had gained 45.97 points in the previous session.

The NSE Nifty was quoting lower by 25.20 points or 0.30% to 8,154.75.

At 1042 hours, Sensex was trading at 26,706.26 points, down 7.67 points or 0.03%, and Nifty was trading at 8,175.40 points, down 4.55 points 0.06%.

Equity brokers said apart from trimming of positions in recent gainers by participants at existing levels, weak trend at other Asian markets dampened trading sentiments.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 2.29% while Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.22% in morning trade on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, however, was up 0.03%.

The US Dow Jones ended 0.01% higher in Wednesday's trade.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)