Sensex down 15 pts in opening trade

The 30-share index, which had gained 324 points in the last three session, fell by 14.60 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 18,740.85 in the first five minutes of trading. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index shed 7.20 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 5,690.50.

Brokers said investors booked profits, following upsurge in the past few seasons.

They said the sentiments further dampened on a weakening Asian trend.

The Asian markets were down, tracking a sell-off in global shares late last week, as investors continued to shed risk ahead of the closely fought US presidential election and looked past a strong US jobs data to fragile economic growth worldwide. Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.44 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.39 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.05 per cent lower in Friday's trade.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUND UP

Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.2 percent. The MSCI-Asia Pacific index excluding Japan is down 0.3 percent.

U.S. stocks ended an unusual storm-shortened trading week with a selloff on Friday, as major indexes erased early gains sparked by a stronger-than-expected payrolls report.

Asian shares fell on Monday, tracking a sell-off in global shares late last week, as investors continued to shed risk ahead of the closely fought U.S. presidential election

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