Mumbai, March 16: The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 130 points in early trade today amid weak Asian cues and selling on oil & gas, metals, power, PSU and IT counters. Brokers said persistent selling by investors, capital outflows by foreign funds and a weak trend in Asian bourses due to increased concerns over the prospect of a global trade war dampened market sentiment.

The Sensex was trading 136.94 points, or 0.40 percent, down at 33,548.60. The gauge lost 232.40 points in the previous three straight sessions. The 50-share Nifty also fell 50.95 points, or 0.49 percent, to 10,309.20.

Kotak Bank, ONGC, NTPC, Asian Paint, Reliance Industries, HDFC, TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank, ITC, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Tata Motors were among major losers, falling up to 1.40 percent. Shares of Gitanjali Gems continued to be under selling pressure, falling 4.63 percent to Rs 12.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.24 percent and Shanghai Composite shed 0.11 percent in early trade today. Japan's Nikkei too down 0.24 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.47 percent higher yesterday.