Sensex extends losses ahead of exit polls; Nifty cracks below 8,900-mark

Mumbai: The Sensex shed about 87 points while the NSE Nifty cracked below the 8,900-mark in early trade today on sustained selling in oil and gas, power, healthcare and PSU counters ahead of exit poll results.

The 30-share Sensex barometer, which had lost 146.25 points in the previous two sessions, fell by another 86.92 points or 0.30 percent to 28,815.02.

The broader Nifty too declined by 24.80 points or 0.27 percent to 8,899.50.

Brokers said trimming of positions by participants ahead of exit poll results for the assembly elections later in the day amid a weak trend globally, influenced trading sentiment.

Among major losers on BSE were GAIL, Dr Reddy's, Power Grid, ONGC, Adani Ports, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Infosys and ITC Ltd, which fell up to 4.25 percent in early trade.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 1.01 percent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.15 percent in early trade. Shanghai Composite index shed 0.92 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.33 percent lower in yesterday's trade.