After witnessing a positive start in pre-opening trade, benchmark indices 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) and 51-scrip Nifty slipped sharply on Wednesday morning. Sensex plunged 150 points in the early trade, even as the broader Nifty fell below the 11,000-mark. The market reports suggest that there were about 992 shares advanced against 687 declining shares on the BSE. During the early morning trade, the Sensex of the BSE opened at 36,602.85 points, which was also its high point. It touched a low of 36,325.15. On Monday, the Sensex closed at 36,526.14 points. On the other hand, the Nifty at National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,982.70 points after closing at 11,008.30 points on Monday.

Even the Indian rupee opened at all-time low of Rs 73.24 against a dollar on Wednesday as it crossed 73 for the first time. It has opened lower by 33 paise versus Monday's close Rs 72.91. Sharp rise in global crude oil prices over the last two sessions resulted in this steep fall of India rupee.

Reacting to the market sentiment, Yes Bank rallied 4 per cent. Even in the midcap space, InterGlobe Aviation, Prestige Estates, Bharat Forge, Eicher Motors, Ceat and Reliance Communications were under pressure. Shares of Hathway Cable slipped by 8 per cent and MOIL rose 2 per cent. According to market reports, early gainers among Nifty 50 stocks were HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Infratel, Eicher Motors, IOC, Axis Bank and L&T were under pressure in early trade.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, Asian shares in the global market traded lower on Wednesday and the euro held at six-week lows as Italy’s mounting debt and Rome’s budget plan set it on a collision course with the European Union. Even Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.1 per cent on a stronger yen while South Korea’s KOSPI index slipped 1.3 per cent.