Sensex opens in negative zone weak, sheds 71 points on weak Asian cues

Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex fell by about 71 points to slip below the key 27,000-mark in the opening trade today, on sustained foreign fund outflows amid weak Asian cues as investors await US President Donald Trump's economic plan details.

The 30-share index was 70.92 points or 0.26 percent lower at 26,963.58 in early trade with sectoral indices led by IT, healthcare, banking and capital goods, trading in the negative zone, falling by up to 0.78 percent.

The gauge had lost 274.10 points in the previous session on Friday.

The National Stock Exchange Nifty too dropped by 22.15 points, or 0.26 percent, to 8,327.20.

Laggards from the Sensex kitty included ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Hindustan Unilever, Lupin and Asian Paints, dragged down the benchmark.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.03 percent and Japan's Nikkei fell 1.06 percent in early deals. China's Shanghai Composite index too fell 0.47 percent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 0.48 percent higher in Friday's trade.