Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex fell by over 31 points in the opening trade on December 4 as investors preferred to adopt a cautious approach ahead of the vote on FDI in Parliament and trimmed their positions.

The 30-share index, which had lost 34.58 points in the previous session, fell by 31.29 points, or 0.16 percent, to 19,274.03 in first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index shed 8.70 points, or 0.14 percent, to 5,862.25.

Brokers said besides profit-booking by investors after recent hefty gains, a cautious approach ahead of voting in Parliament on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail dampened the sentiments.

Further, a weakening trend on the other Asian markets in line with overnight losses on the U.S. markets after poor data in the manufacturing sector in November triggered selling, they said.

Meanwhile, in the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei was down by 0.33 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.14 percent. The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.46 per cent lower in December 3 trade.

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