Markets in red in opening trades

Markets have opened soft this morning on cues from global markets. The Sensex opened at 16,802 - down 74 points. The index slumped to a low of 16,644 and is now down 166 points at 16,710.

The Nifty is down 50 points at 5,016.

US markets dropped on Tuesday as the Euro declined from its high. The Dow closed at 10511, weaker by 115 points or 1%, Nasdaq ended at 2317, lower by 37 points or 1.5% and S&P shut shop at 1121, down 16 points or 1.5%.

Taking a cue from the developments in the US markets overnight, the Asian indices have opened in the red.
Hang Seng is quoting at 19,945, and the Nikkei has opened at 10,078, lower by 165 points or
1.61%.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE metal index has slumped 1.5% to 15,334. The bankex, realty and auto indices are down around 1% each.

ICICI Bank has shed 3.3% to Rs 859 following the announcement of its merger with Bank of Rajasthan. HDFC Bank is down 1.2% at Rs 144. SBI is flat at Rs 2,266.

Metal stocks seem to be the worst hit by the global weakness. Sterlite has dropped 2.5% to Rs 671. Tata Steel has slipped 1.7% to Rs 522. Hindalco is marginally down at Rs 162.

Tata Motors has fallen 1.8% to Rs 757. Jaiprakash Associates has moved down 1.3% to Rs 126. DLF is down 1% at Rs 286.

TCS and Wipro have dropped 1% each to Rs 728 and Rs 652, respectively.

Communication stocks- Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications have slipped 1% each in opening trades.

Other losers include Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC and Reliance Infrastructure.