Markets open weaker; rupee slips 10paise

Mumbai: The domestic bourses and rupee in forex market witnessed a subdued trend on Friday. Infrastructure, PSU and capital goods stocks pulled the key indices lower amid volatility in the market. Rupee fell 10 paise against US dollar owing to increased demand for the greenback from importers.

After opening at 27,197.4 points on weaker note, BSE Sensex immediately dropped further by over 140 points to 27,048 points at 9:36 am and was trading at 27,124.55 pints at 12:43pm. Nifty dropped below 8,300, a key psychological mark, 8,292.50 at 9:37am and recovered marginally and was moving at 8,317.95 points, a net drop of 19.95 points.

Apart from dilution of bets by participants to book profits, a weak trend in Asia because of caution ahead of the release of crucial US jobs data kept sentiment subdued. Investors are in wait and watch mode as all eyes are on the release of a key US jobs report on Friday.

Investors are in wait and watch mode as all eyes are on the release of a key US jobs report on Friday. The gauge had gained 34.62 points in the previous session. The NSE Nifty broke below the 8,300-mark by falling 40.40 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 8,297.50. Traders said that apart from dilution of bets by participants to book profits, a weak trend in Asia because of caution ahead of the release of crucial US jobs data kept sentiment subdued.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.11 per cent or 169.26 points to 15,106.98 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.98 per cent or 203.59 points to 20,503.33 points. Shanghai Composite index edged lower by 0.91 per cent to 2,989.25 points. The US Dow Jones ended 0.13 per cent lower to 17,895.88 points on Thursday.

Forex market witnessed a drop of 10 paise in Indian currency value to 67.49 against the US dollar. The increased demand for the American currency from importers amid foreign fund outflows put more pressure on the Indian currency. Weakness of the US dollar against major world currencies, however, capped the rupee’s losses, dealers said. On Thursday, the rupee had recovered six paise to end at 67.39 against the American currency on fresh selling of US dollars by banks and exporters on the back of good foreign capital inflows.

Source: PTI