The BSE benchmark Sensex opened over 125 points lower on Thursday on fresh selling by foreign funds and retail investors ahead of the release of factory output data later on Thursday and a weak trend on bourses throughout Asia.

The 30-share barometer, which gained 72.19 points in the previous session, fell by 125.98 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 18,458.98, led by metals, IT, auto, realty and banking stocks.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 37.75 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 5,527.30 points.

According to market experts, the trading sentiment turned bearish on a fresh round of selling by funds and retail investors ahead of the industrial production data (IIP) for the month of March, to be released later on Thursday.

In addition, subdued trend on other Asian bourses following overnight losses at the US market also dampened the market sentiment in Mumbai.

In other important indices in Asia, the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.81 per cent and the Japan’s Nikkei was trading 0.51 per cent down on Thursday morning.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.02 per cent lower in Wednesday’s trade.