Mumbai: The sensex opened slightly lower and moved down further in line with drop in share values at opening session on the stock exchange today (May 3, 2004) following selling by operators in the absence of any worthwhile buying support.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIIs), the main market movers, after remaining net buyers in past several weeks, were also heavy sellers last week and that affected the investors confidence, dealers said.

The BSE-30 share sensitive index resumed weak at 5645.86 as against last Friday's (Apr 30, 2004) close of 5655.09 and dipped further to quote at 5573.89 at 10.30 hrs (IST).

Index-based shares like, SBI, Tisco, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Grasim, Hindalco, HPCL, Infosys Tech, Satyam Computer, ITC, L&T, ONGC, Ranbaxy and Reliance Energy were quoted sharply down, weighing the sensex negatively.

Weak Wall Street advices also partly affected the market sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index were down by a whopping 2.4 per cent and 6.3 per cent last week.

The mood remained cautious and will remain the same with nervous operators and retail investors preferring to sit on the fence till the outcome of election results.

However, FACT, Tata Exlsi, Zee Tele, BILT and Union Bank showed moderate gains.