Sensex weakens further, declines 43 points on weak global cues

Mumbai: BSE Sensex lost further ground this morning by declining 43 points on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and selling by retail investors amid continued sell-off in global markets, reeling under fear that market favourite Hillary Clinton may lose US election.

However, a four-tier GST rate structure decided by the all-powered GST council yesterday had positive impact and minimised fall in the key indices.

The 30-share Sensex moved down by another 42.53 points, or 0.15 percent, to trade at 27,387.75 in early trade.

Stocks of healthcare, capital goods, auto, realty and software exporters were trading in the negative zone with losses up to 3.55 percent.

The gauge had lost 511.23 points in the previous four sessions.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty fell by 14.80 points, or 0.17 percent to 8,470.15.

Meanwhile, a four-tier GST tax structure of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent that aims to lower tax incidence on most goods and keep out essential items was decided by a high-powered council yesterday -- a major breakthrough for rollout of the Goods and Services Tax regime from April 1 next year.

Big losers that dragged down the indices were Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Lupin, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, M&M, Bharti Airtel and Wipro.

Bucking the trend, shares of ITC Ltd and Hind Unilever rose by 5.70 percent and 3.01 percent, respectively. Brokers said sentiment remained weak as participants indulged in cutting their bets, tracking a falling trend in global market as investors fret over next week's US president election.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.32 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite index shed 0.08 percent in early trade today. Japan's Nikkei fell 1.44 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.16 percent lower yesterday.