Sensex dips below 16k level in early trade; down 232 pts

The BSE benchmark Sensex dipped below the 16,000 points level in early trade today by losing nearly 232 points on heavy selling by funds and retail investors, tracking weak global markets.

The BSE benchmark Sensex dipped below the 16,000 points level in early trade on Friday by losing nearly 232 points on heavy selling by funds and retail investors, tracking weak global markets.

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The 30-share barometer, which had closed higher by 40 points in Thursday's session, tumbled by 231.97 points, or 1.44%, to 15,838.51.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty too dipped below the crucial 4,800 points level. It was trading lower by 73.80 points, or 1.51%, to 4,796.40.

Brokers said continues selling by funds amid a weak trend in the global markets on European worries, with Greece's woes deepening and Spain falling into recession triggering selling by foreign funds.

In addition, weakening rupee, which on Thursday had slid to 54.60 intra-day, before closing at 54.47, also dampened the trading sentiments, they said.

All sectoral indices were trading in the negative zone with losses of up to 2.18%.

In the Asian region, the Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 2.23%, while Japan's Nikkei was down by 2.44 per in the early trade.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.24% in Thursday's trade.