SENSEX slides over 800 pts, NIFTY50 opens at 23,173 on weak global cues; rupee hits new low of 94.29

According to NSE data at the opening bell, the benchmark NIFTY50 index dropped 132.9 points or 0.57% to open at 23,173.55 points on Friday, compared to 23,306.45 points at the previous market close.

The BSE SENSEX lost more than 800 points after the opening bell at 9:15 am on March 27, dropping to 74,516.69 points, compared to 75,273.45 points at the previous market close level on Wednesday. The stock market in India remained closed for trading on Thursday, March 27, on account of the Shri Ram Navami public holiday in the country.

The stock markets opened lower on Friday on the backdrop of the Indian rupee dropping to a record low level of 94.29 against the US dollar due to the rising uncertainty in the global market, FIIs pulling out money from emerging markets like India, and the rising price of oil around $100 per barrel.

Investing.com data showed that the Indian currency was trading 0.10% lower at 94.170 against the greenback as of 9:34 am on Friday.

NIFTY50 was trading 1.19% lower at 23,028.20 points, compared to the previous market close, as of the early trade at 9:42 am, while the BSE SENSEX was also down 1.13%, trading at 74,419.29 points on March 27.

Top gainers & losers today

Stocks such as ONGC up 2.07%; TCS up 1.48%; HCL Tech up 1.3%; Tech Mahindra up 0.76%; Sun Pharmaceuticals up 0.62%; Wipro up 0.56%; Infosys up 0.51%; Trent up 0.51%; Nestle India up 0.15%, and NTPC up 0.08% were among the gainers on NIFTY50 index today as of the early trading hours.

Others, like Shriram Finance was down 4.04%; Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (TMPV) down 3.96%; Bajaj Finance down 2.71%; IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation) down 2.62%; Larsen & Toubro dow 2.36%; Reliance Industries down 2.31%; HDFC Bank down 2.36%; Eternal Down 2.13%; Eicher Motors down 1.93%; SBI down 1.82%, and Ultratech Cement down 1.75% were among the top laggards on NSE.

Out of the 50 constituents on the NIFTY50 benchmark index, only 11 stocks were trading in the green zone, while the remaining 39 stocks were down in the red.

Mid-cap and small-cap stocks today

The Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading 1.34% lower at 54,587.15 points as of 9:54 am on Friday, compared to 55,331.05 points at the previous market close, according to NSE data. The index opened 0.60% lower at 54,997.35 points on March 27.

Oracle Financial Services, Adani Total Gas, LIC Housing Finance, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Aurobindo Pharmaceuticals, NHPC, and Mankind Pharma were among the other gainers on Friday. While others like Prestige India, Ashoke Leyland, Phoenix, Union Bank, and Voltas were among other stocks which were trading lower.

The Nifty Smallcap 100 index was trading 1.62% lower at 15,639.70 points, compared to 15,896.55 points at the previous market close, according to the exchange data. The index opened lower at 15,796.40 points on Friday.

Stocks like Brigade, Triveni Turbine, Ola Electric Mobility, Affle 3i, Mahanagar Gas, and The Great Eastern Shipping Company were among the gainers, while other constituents like Reliance Power, First Cry, Firstsource Solutions, were among the losers.