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NEW DELHI: Frontline equity indices Sensex and Nifty skidded sharply lower after opening Monday's session on a flat note as rupee's prolonged fall and weak Asian cues hit market sentiment.
The rupee on Monday opened 19 paise down at 73.96 against the US dollar on account of buying in American currency by banks and importers.
The local currency dropped 18 paise against the US dollar on Friday after the RBI surprisingly kept the repo rate unchanged.
Meanwhile, the domestic currency crashed below the 74-mark for the first time ever in intra-day trade on persistent capital outflows and high crude oil prices.
Shares in Asia stumbled in early trade on Monday as investors waited with bated breath as China's markets prepare to reopen following a week-long holiday and after its central bank cut banks' reserve requirements in a bid to support growth, Reuters reported.
Around 9:29 am, the 30-share Sensex was 275 points, or 0.80 per cent, down at 34,102, with 21 stocks declining in trade.
The NSE Nifty50 was 82 points, or 0.80 per cent, down at 10,234, with 11 stocks in the green zone and 39 in the red.
Vedanta, HDFC, Adani Ports, Tata Steel and Larsen Toubro featured among the top losers in the Sensex index at that time.
However, YES Bank, Hero MotoCorp, State Bank of India, Coal India and Maruti emerged as the gainers in the Sensex basket of stocks.
Midcaps and smallcaps, too, fell in line with Sensex.
The BSE Midcap and smallcap indices were down 0.76 per cent and 0.55 per cent, respectively.
Among sectoral indices on BSE, metal index cracked over 2 per cent.
BSE Energy, FMCG, utilities, industrials and capital goods delcined over 1 per cent.
