The markets have recovered partially from the early morning losses. The Sensex after touching a low of 16,107, is now down 64 points at 16,296. The NSE Nifty has declined 21 points to 4,903.
IT stocks are leading the up move, with the BSE IT index up around 1.5%. Infosys, Wipro and TCS are up nearrly 2% each.
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(Updated at 0940 hrs)
The markets extended Thursday's losses and opened weak following negative global cues. The BSE Sensex opened at 16,122, down 239 points and the Nifty opened at 4,852, down 72 points. Markets, across the globe, have taken a beating as sovereign debt has become a strong possibility and that is most likely to drag the Sensex further.
Overnight, the US markets plunged as stocks and commodities cratered throughout the trading day. The investors also remained jittery over the uncertainty of Europe's econimic health. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 3.5%. The S&P 500 lost 3.2% while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 82.5 points, or 3.3%
The Asian markets have been trading in the red in the morning session. The Hang Seng, Nikkei and Shanghai Composite indices have shed nearly 1-2% each.
In yesterday's trading session, the markets had plunged over 4% amid sell-off in global equities after the Federal Reserve steered away from announcing quantitative easing three. The Nifty had plunged 210 points, at 4,923 and the Sensex had declined 704 points, at 16,361.
The Nifty and the Sensex clocked its biggest point fall since July 2009.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal, Realty and Bankex are leading the losses, down 2-3% each.
Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel, NMDC. Bhushan Steel and Nalco, down 3-5% each, are the major losers from the Metals space.
HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank and Bank of India, down 2-3% each, are the top losers among the financials.
Among the Sensex 30 stocks, Sterlite Industries has shed 5% at Rs 119. Tata Motors, JP Associates, Tata Steel and DLF, down 3-4%, are the other prominent losers. TCS, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Power and ITC, up nearly 1% each, are the major gainers from the pack.
The overall market breadth is negative as 1,293 stocks have declined against 332 advancing ones, on the BSE.