Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Friday opened lower amid weak global cues and subdued foreign flows in early morning trade. However, the two domestic indices recouped some of their losses and turned volatile.
At 9.45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading lower by 90 points to 61,708, while the broader NSE Nifty was at 18,393, down 21 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Dr Reddy, Asian Paint, Kotak Bank, Wipro, HCL, M&M, Titan, and others were trading in the red. On the flip side, L&T was the top gainer, up 1.29 per cent, followed by Reliance, UltraCemco, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, and others.
Among specific stocks, shares of Asian Paints declined over 1 per cent after prices of Brent crude climbed to $82 per barrel.
In the broader markets, Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices fell up to 0.5 per cent.
While volatility gauge, India VIX, shot over 1 per cent.
All sectors drowned in the sea of red, with Nifty IT index declining over 1 per cent in trade.
In the previous trading on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex was closed at 61,799, down 879 points, while the broader NSE Nifty was down by 245 points to 18,415.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 4 paise to 82.80 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday due to losses in domestic equities and risk aversion in global markets. However, a weak greenback overseas supported the domestic currency and restricted the decline, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 82.84 against the dollar, then gained some ground to quote at 82.80, registering a fall of 4 paise over its previous close. In the previous session on Thursday, the rupee settled 27 paise lower at 82.76 against the US dollar.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.59 per cent to $81.69 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 710.74 crore, according to exchange data.