New Delhi: Markets opened in the negative zone on Thursday ahead of the expiry of October derivative contracts.
The BSE Sensex fell 152.03 points or 0.38 percent to 39,770.43 in early trade while the NSE Nifty dropped 48.15 points or 0.41 percent to 11,681.45.
Major losers in the Sensex pack were LT, ONGC, Titan, HUL, HDFC Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Sun Pharma and M&M, falling upto 4.13 percent. On the other hand, major gainers were Asian Paint, Ultrachem, TCS, Bajaj Finserce, RIL, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC and Bajaj finance, rising upt 2.13 percent.
The rupee meanwhile, continued its downward journey on Thursday, sliding another 18 paise to 74.05 against the US dollar in opening trade, tracking weak opening in domestic equities amid global risk aversion.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 599.64 points or 1.48 per cent lower at 39,922.46, and Nifty tanked 159.80 points or 1.34 per cent to close at 11,729.60.
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,130.98 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 824.06 points, or 3%, to 26,639.13, the S&P 500 lost 98.51 points, or 2.91%, to 3,292.17 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 334.78 points, or 2.93%, to 11,096.58. The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 2.95%. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.66% lower, while Japan`s Nikkei lost 0.29%, a Reuters report said.
