 "Weakness persists; financial shares, rupee weigh")
At 10:30AM, the Sensex was down 363 points at 18,886 and the Nifty was down 119 points at 5,703.
The rupee slumped to a record low on Thursday, while stocks and bonds were hit, after the Federal Reserve signalled a tapering of its monetary stimulus, highlighting the country's dependence on foreign capital inflows to fund its current account deficit.
The rupee fell to a record low of 59.9350 to the dollar, breaching past its all-time low of 58.98 on June 11. The rupee was trading at 59.82/81, down from its 58.71/72 close on Wednesday.
The country's fixed income association is waiting for central bank approval to raise the upper trading limits for government bonds for the day, sources with direct knowledge of the request said on Thursday.
The request from the Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India comes after dealers told Reuters trading in the central bank's dealing platform was halted for Indian government bonds whose yields had risen by their upper circuits.
In the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank and SBI were the top losers down 2-4% each. Other losers include heavyweights such as ITC, Reliance Industries and L&T.
(Updated at 9:35AM)
Benchmark share indices opened lower on Thursday, amid weak global cues, after the Fed's stance of reducing stimulus coupled with weak manufacturing data from China led to sell off in Asian markets. Further, the rupee which slumped to a new all-time low of Rs 59.9350 to the US dollar further dampened market sentiment in early trades.
At 9:35AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 376 points at 18,870 and the 50-share Nifty down 118 points at 5,704.
The rupee slumped to a record low on Thursday, while stocks and bonds were hit, after the Federal Reserve signalled a tapering of its monetary stimulus, highlighting the country's dependence on foreign capital inflows to fund its current account deficit.
Asian shares slumped on Thursday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street after weak China manufacturing data coupled with the Fed's stance of reducing stimulus dampened investor sentiment. The 'flash' of HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index contracted to a nine-month low of 48.3 in June from May's final reading. The Nikkei was down 1%, the Hang Seng fell 2.5%, Shanghai COmposite eased 1.4% and Straits Times was down 2%.
According to technical experts, the 20-DMA is at 5,918, while the 50-DMA is at 5,914. One should wait for a clear breakout from the consolidation range of 5,740-5,870 before taking a fresh position. Today, the Nifty is likely to seek support around 5,805-5,790, while face resistance around 5,840-5,855.
Rate sensitive sectors were amongst the most hit in early trades on worries that the rising rupee would force the Reserve Bank of India to defer reduction in key policy rate going forward.
Realty index was the top loser among the sectoral indices on the BSE down 3.5% followed by Metal, Bankex, Capital Goods, Oil and Gas, Auto all down over 2% each.
In the financial segment, ICICI Bank was down 3.5% while HDFC, HDFC Bank and SBI were down over 2% each.
Among the index heavyweights ITC and Reliance Industries were both down 2% each.
Auto shares were down on profit taking amid rising concerns of slow down in auto sales going forward after disappointing May sales data. Tata Motors and M&M were down over 2.3% each.
Other Sensex losers include, L&T, Bharti Airtel, TCS and Tata Steel among others.
However, Wipro was the sole Sensex gainer up 1.1% at Rs 347 on reports that the software major has bagged a large IT outsourcing five year contract worth around $500 million from Citigroup.
Among other shares, Tourism Finance Corporation of India has rallied 10% to Rs 24.65 in otherwise weak market after the public sector financial institutional said that it is submitting application for securing a bank licence after its board approved the same.
The broader market was also trading weak with both the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices down over 1% each.
Market breadth was weak with 767 losers and 182 gainers on the BSE.