Sensex falls 72 pts in early trade on weak Asian cues

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped

about 72 points in early trade today, on fresh spell of

selling by investors, taking weak cues from other Asian

markets on escalating geopolitical tensions after North

Korea's latest nuclear test yesterday.

The 30-share index slipped by 71.65 points or 0.22 per

cent to 31,820.58. The gauge had gained 503.84 points in the

previous three sessions.

The NSE Nifty fell by 21.85 points, or 0.21 per cent, to

9,952.55.

Brokers said apart from profit booking in recent gainers

by investors, a weak trend in Asian markets on mounting

geopolitical tensions after North Korea said it had

successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, pulled down the indices.

Major losers among Sensex components were Adani Ports, Dr

Reddy's, Kotak Bank, Asian Paint, Sun Pharma, Infosys, HDFC

Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Hind Unilever, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC,

HDFC Ltd, M&M and Tata Steel, losing by up to 1.88 per cent.

Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.86

per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.49 per cent in

early trade. Shanghai Composite Index, however, was marginally

up by 0.08 per cent.

The US Dow Jones ended 0.18 per cent higher in Friday's

trade.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)