Sensex, Nifty open lower on global cues, Sun Pharma falls 2.50%

The Sensex opened lower on Wednesday amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the US as investors stayed away from risky assets leading to a fall in global markets.

At 9:27 am, the Sensex was down 155 points or 0.49 percent at 31,653 level. The Nifty too was down 0.5 percent or 48 points at 9904 level.

Sun Pharma (2.21 percent) was the top loser on the BSE followed by Oberoi Realty (2.15 percent) and Religare (2.13 percent) on the BSE.

Aegis Logistics (4.44 percent) and Just Dial (3.63 percent) were the top gainers on the BSE.

Sun Pharma (2.50 percent) was the top loser on the 30-stock Sensex followed by Adani Ports (1.34 percent) and HDFC Bank (0.98 percent).  

Market breadth was negative with 575 stocks advancing against 979 falling on the BSE.

On Tuesday, the Sensex settled at 31,810 with gains of 107 points and Nifty ended the day with gains of 39 points above 9,950.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stock markets were lower on Wednesday as investors found ample reasons to stay away from risky assets amid still-high tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the powerful hurricane approaching the United States.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent to 19,325.87 and South Korea's Kospi was down 0.3 percent to 2,319.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index sank 0.9 percent to 27,485.12 and Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3 percent to 3,373.05. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.6 percent to 5,675.10. Stocks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were all lower.

The US stock markets had its worst day in almost three weeks on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 18.70 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,457.85. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 234.25 points, or 1.1 percent, to 21,753.31. The average had been down more than 277 points. The Nasdaq composite lost 59.76 points, or 0.9 percent, to 6,375.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 13.92 points, or 1 percent, to 1,399.66.