Sensex opens 90 points lower on growth concerns

The BSE Sensex fell by over 90 points in opening trade today on sustained selling driven by economic growth concerns amid a weakening trend on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share benchmark BSE benchmark index, which lost 18.93 points in the previous session, fell further by 90.19 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 15,758.61 in opening trade today.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index declined by 27.85 points, or 0.59%, to 4,719.05.

Brokers said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the economy is expected to grow at 7% this fiscal, lower than the earlier forecast of about 9%, dampened the trading sentiment.

In addition, a weakening trend in other Asian markets fuelled the selling pressure, they said.

Capital goods, metal and banking stocks, which had shown some signs of a recovery in the past few sessions, slid in early trade today.

In the Asia region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.11%, while the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.45% lower in the previous session.