Mumbai, Feb 9 (IANS): Despite official forecasts of a decent growth of the Indian economy during the current fiscal year, key stock market indices continued to lose ground on Tuesday, in line with global cues, amid extended holidays in most Asian markets for the lunar New Year.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened significantly lower at 24,076.85 points, as against the previous day's close at 24,287.42 points. Around an hour into trading, it was quoting at 24,021.06 points, down 266.36 points, or 1.10 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share Nifty was quoting at 7,312.45 points, down 74.80 points, or 1.01 percent. Thirty of the Nifty shares were trading in the red.

On Monday, the Sensex had shed 329.55 points, or 1.34 percent, while the Nifty was down 102 points, or 1.36 percent. The market breadth at the BSE was marked by bearish trend, with 1,491 declines against 1,193 advances.

Elsewhere, too, the sentiments were subdued. On Tuesday, the main Japanese index, Nikkei, was down 5 percent.

"Shares on the Wall Street closed lower on Monday, following a volatile session for the European stock markets," Angel Broking said in a statement ahead of the opening bell for Indian bourses.

"Investors remained nervous about slowing global growth, uncertainty about US interest rates and further falls in oil prices. European equities extended the previous week's steep losses, with cyclical sectors losing ground," the brokerage said.

"Indian markets were trading flat for most part the day. Last hour of trade, however, saw a sharp nosedive tracking a sell-off in the European markets."