Sensex Slips Below 30K as May Series Gets off to Shaky Start

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex slipped below the 30,000-mark by falling over 82 points to 29,947.53 in early trade on Friday as the May derivatives series began on a sluggish note, tracking a weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share Sensex fell 82.21 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 29,947.53.

It had retreated from a lifetime high on Thursday's trade by losing 103.61 points, impacted by a rush to book profits and a mixed trend in global markets.

Realty, FMCG, technology, IT, bank and metal stocks were trading in the negative zone, down by up to 0.81 per cent.

Shares of the country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, was trading higher by 1.19 per cent to Rs 6,447.25 after the company on Thursday posted 15.8 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 1,709 crore for the fourth quarter of last fiscal ended March 31.

The NSE Nifty too displayed a similar trend to quote at 9,307.80, down 34.35 points, or 0.37 per cent.

Brokers said that continued selling by participants mirroring a weak trend at other Asian bourses as investors trimmed positions following a six-day rally, besides a tepid lead from Wall Street, mainly dampened sentiments.

Caution prevailed as investors were not keen to raise bets at prevailing record levels despite the start of May futures and options series in the derivatives segment, they added.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.44 per cent while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.20 per cent in early session on Friday.

Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.40 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.03 per cent higher on Thursday's trade.