* Sensex down 76 points in opening trade on profit-booking

STAFF WRITER 9:38 HRS IST

Mumbai, Dec 15 (PTI) The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 77 points in the opening trade today, on profit-booking by funds amid a weak trend in the Asian region.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained over 550 points in last three session, fell by 76.80 points or 0.38 per cent, to 19,722.39 points in first five minutes of trading.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also declined by 26.35 points or 0.44 per cent to trade at 5,917.75 points.

The market analysts attributed the decline to profit-booking by investors after the stocks rally for the previous three trading sessions.

Besides, other Asian markets were also in red. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 0.60 per cent down, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.04 per cent low in the early trade today.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.