Sensex down 19 pts on weak global cues

The BSE benchmark Sensex fell marginally by 19 points in opening trade on Wednesday, extending Tuesday's losses on continued selling by foreign funds and retail investors amid mixed cues from global markets.

The 30-share barometer, which lost 69.92 points in Tuesday's trade, moved down further by 19.00 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 18,725.56 in opening trade on Wednesday.

Shares of state-run oil firms, banking, power and healthcare companies remained under pressure.      Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index shed 11.75 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 5,262.00.

Market experts said the trading sentiment remained somewhat bearish amid a mixed trend on other Asian bourses, following overnight losses in the US market.

In particular, stocks of state-run oil companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Indian Oil Corp faced selling pressure as rising oil prices in global markets put pressure on their earnings.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.32 per cent lower, while Japan's Nikkei was up marginally by 0.31 per cent cent this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.10 per cent lower in Tuesday's trade.