Sensex, Nifty open lower as selling pressure mounts in financials, IT stocks

India's benchmark indexes, Sensex and Nifty, opened lower on Tuesday, with financials and information technology stocks leading the decline as selling pressure intensified near record high levels.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 202.76 points to 72,069.18. The Nifty declined 42.9 points to 21,699.
Among the Sensex firms, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards.
Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid were among the winners.
Asian, European and the US markets were closed on Monday for the New Year.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 855.80 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
On Monday, the Indian markets scaled new all-time highs, but ended barely changed in volatile trades. The sensex touched a new record high of 72,562 points, and closed 32 points up at 72,272, while Nifty scaled a new lifehigh at 21,834 points and closed 11 points higher at 21,742.
Software and energy stocks led the gainers in Monday’s session, while banking and financial stocks witnessed selling pressure and limited the gains. Profit-taking at higher levels restricted early gains in the market, brokers said.