The BSE Sensex extended losses for the second straight day, losing 174 points in opening trade on Tuesday on sustained selling by funds amid assembly election results and weak trend in Asian markets.
With the assembly election results in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, coming out today, the markets are expected to be volatile, brokers said.
A weakening trend seen on Asian bourses, in line with overnight losses in the US market, also influenced the trading sentiment, they added.
The 30-share BSE benchmark index, which had lost 274.12 points in Monday's trade, fell by 173.96 points, or 1 per cent, to 17,188.91 in the opening trade.
In a similar fashion, the wide-based the National Stock Exchange Nifty declined by 54.05 points, or 1.02 per cent, to 5,226.30.
All the sectoral indices, led by metals and realty, were trading in the negative zone, with losses of up to 1.67 per cent.
In the Asia region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.06 per cent and Japan's Nikkei index shed 0.68 per cent in the morning trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.11 per cent lower in Monday's trade.