Mumbai: The SENSEX opened lower and dropped further in line with continued slide in key stocks at early stages on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on December 10 on fresh selling by operators as well as foreign funds.

The BSE sensitive index opened weak at 3,256.63 as against close of 3,269.31 on December 9 and later fell further to a low of 3,241.40 before being quoted at 3,265.17 at 10.30 am (IST).

Foreign funds were believed to be booking profits at higher levels in select stocks due to the approaching year-end.

Brokers said operators too were seen selling in a few heavy weighted counters, particularly in Public Sector Unit (PSU) stocks as the government's announcement of disinvestment in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) lacked any proper time frame.

Meanwhile, New York stocks suffered a fresh setback due to downbeat developments involving corporate giants International Business Machines (IBM), Wal-Mart and UAL.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the NASDAQ composite index dropped by about 172 points and 56 points respectively on December 9.



PTI