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The 30-share barometer, which gained 43.63 points in the previous session, fell by 68.87 points to 18,351.24 in the first few minutes of trade today as auto, FMCG, capital goods and banking stocks retreated.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index moved down by 24.25 points to 5,507.80 points.
Brokers attributed the downslide on the bourses to selling by funds and retail investors in tandem with a weakening trend on other Asian bourses following overnight losses in the US market.
They said a spate of recent weak US data raised concerns about a bearish global economy and pulled down global markets.
In other markets in Asia, Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index was trading lower by 0.70 per cent, while Japan`s Nikkei was marginally up by 0.23 per cent in morning trade today.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.50 per cent lower yesterday.