Sensex down 155 points in opening trade

Mumbai, May 4 (PTI) Continuing its losing streak for the
8th straight session, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark
Sensex fell by 155 points in opening trade on Wednesday on
sustained selling by foreign funds and retail investors after
the RBI raised key policy rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday.
The 30-share barometer, which lost over 1,068 points in
the previous seven sessions, fell further by 155.69 points, or
0.84 per cent, to 18,379.00 points in the first few minutes of
trade on Wednesday.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty,
was trading 40.45 points, or 0.73 per cent, lower at 5,524.80
points.
Stocks of banking, realty auto and IT sectors were under
pressure, dragging the Sensex down.
Brokers said continued offloading of stocks by funds and
retail investors after the RBI raised the short-term lending
(repo) rate by 50 basis points to 7.25 per cent in a bid to
check inflation dampened the trading sentiment.
In addition, discouraging quarterly results by leading
companies also cast shadow over the sentiment, they said.
Meanwhile, in other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng
index was down 1.24 per cent in early trade this morning.