Extending weakness of the previous session, the domestic stock markets traded in the red in opening session on Tuesday. The S&P BSE Sensex started at 34,846.19 and the Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 10,451.90. In the first few minutes of trade, the 30-share Sensex was at 34,742.30, down 70.69 points or 0.20 per cent and the broader 50-scrip Nifty was at 10,443.40, with a loss of 38.80 points or 0.37 per cent. At its intraday low so far to 34,672.20, the Sensex had shed 140.79 points and the Nifty 41.45 points to 10,440.55.

Asian shares skidded, pressured by a tech rout on Wall Street and a slump in oil prices, while political risks in Europe buoyed the dollar as investors dumped riskier assets, reported news agency Reuters. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1.4 per cent to a one-and-a-half- week low.

In overnight trade, Wall Street's major indexes tumbled as shares of Apple Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc dragged down the technology and financial sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 602.12 points, or 2.32 per cent, to 25,387.18, the S&P 500 lost 54.79 points, or 1.97 per cent, to 2,726.22 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 206.03 points, or 2.78 per cent, to 7,200.87.

On Monday, the Sensex had closed 345 points lower at 34,812 and the Nifty at 10,482, down 103 points.