Sensex slips 60 pts, Nifty nears 13,100 in opening trade

Equity benchmark Sensex dropped by 60 points in opening trade on Wednesday due to selling in financial, IT and energy stocks as investors booked profit after sharp gains in the previous session.

The 30-share BSE index opened lower by 60.37 points or 0.14 per cent at 44,595.07.

The broader NSE Nifty was down by 15.30 points or 0.12 per cent at 13,093.75 in opening trade.

Tech Mahindra was the biggest loser among 30 Sensex stocks, dropping by 0.74 per cent.

Among other IT stocks, TCS and Infosys declined up to 0.46 per cent.

HDFC twins dropped up to 0.64 per cent in opening trade, dragging the index down. Index major Reliance Industries fell 0.21 per cent.

Among gainers, Tata Steel rose the most by 1.49 per cent, Titan by 1.41 per cent and Asian Paints by 1.29 per cent.

Auto, FMCG and Infra stocks were trading in the positive territory with L&T rising by 1.23 per cent.

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty had rallied to fresh lifetime highs on Tuesday, backed by gains in IT and finance stocks amid persistent foreign capital inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 505.72 points or 1.15 per cent to end at its fresh closing record of 44,655.44. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 140.10 points or 1.08 per cent to close at its all-time high of 13,109.05.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets shed early gains due to profit booking.

Tokyo stocks dropped by 0.17 per cent and China by 0.22 per cent. Australian stocks also dropped 0.38 per cent.

Oil prices dropped in Asia with the benchmark, Brent Crude, falling by 0.53 per cent to USD 47.16 per barrel.