Sensex, Nifty Open Lower As Pharma And Metal Stocks Drag
(RTTNews) - Indian shares opened lower on Friday, with uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling and jitters over the health of U.S. regional banks keeping investors nervous.
Traders also looked ahead to the release of domestic CPI data later in the day for directional cues.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 280 points, or half a percent, at 61,625 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 86 points, or half a percent at 18,210.
Divis Laboratories led losses to fall about 4 percent while Dr Reddy's Laboratories, JSW Steel, Hindalco and BPCL were down 2-3 percent.
Adani Enterprises fell about 1 percent ahead of a board meet on Saturday to consider fund raising.
Asian Paints dropped 1 percent despite reporting a 45 percent jump in Q4 net profit. Eicher Motors soared 6.6 percent on posting robust quarterly earnings.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank jumped 4.4 percent on reporting a two-fold rise in March quarter net profit.
Adani Transmission slumped 4.5 percent, Adani Total Gas lost 5 percent and Indus Towers declined 1.7 percent after they have been removed from the MSCI India Index. Tata Motors gained half a percent ahead of its earnings release.
ONGC rose half a percent on news it has discovered oil and gas reserves in Mumbai offshore fields located in the Arabian Sea.
Reliance Industries shed 0.7 percent after German retailer METRO AG completed sale of its Indian cash and carry business to Reliance Retail.
Australian Dollar Falls Against Majors
European Shares Seen Higher At Open
Australia Consumer Sentiment At 3 1/2 Year High: Westpac
Sensex, Nifty Slightly Higher In Early Trade
Australian Market Trims Early Losses In Mid-market
Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher
Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open On Muted Note
