Market Live: Sensex tanks over 250 points, Nifty below 10,050, banking stocks fall

BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty open lower on Friday. Photo: Mint

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex opened lower on Friday against the previous session’s closing. The broader NSE’s Nifty, too, fell in the morning hours. The Indian rupee weakened past 65-mark against the US dollar. Pharma Stocks rose in early trading led by Dr. Reddy’s, Sun Pharma and Cipla, whereas shares of ICICI Bank, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever fell.

Stocks in Asia dropped after a report that North Korea threatened with a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific in response to fresh sanctions. Kim Jong Un warned of the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” and his foreign minister suggested that could include testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean, Bloomberg reported. Here are the latest updates from the market:

■ 10.00am: BSE Sensex fell 266 points, or 0.82%, to 32,103, while the Nifty 50 rises 91 points, or 0.90%, to 10,031.

■ 9.40am: Banking stocks fell. The Nifty Bank index slumped 1.15% to 24,514. Yes Bank Ltd fell 3.3%, Andhra Bank 2.8%, Central Bank 2.6%, Indian Bank 2.3%, South Indian Bank 2.3%, South Indian Bank 2%, ICICI Bank 2.1%, Karnataka Bank 2.1%

■ 9.42am: New Delhi Television Ltd rose 5% to Rs53.10 after an Indian Express report said that Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director for SpiceJet, may buy a controlling stake in NDTV of around 40% and the promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy will hold around 20% in the company.

■ 9.27am: BSE Sensex opens lower by 190 points, or 0.59%, to 32,180, while the Nifty 50 rises 68 points, or 0.68%, to 10,053.

■ 9.20am: Pharma stocks were trading higher. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd rose 1.5%, Sun Pharma 1.1%, Lupin Ltd 1%, Cipla Ltd 1%, Ipca Laboratories Ltd 3.4%, Ajanta Pharma 3.2%, Dr Reddy’s Lab 1.5% and Glenmark Pharma 1.3%.

■ 9.18am: KNR Constructions Ltd rose 5.2% to Rs223 after the company said its joint venture won order worth Rs 884.47 crore from Government of Telangana

■ 9.15am: The home currency opened at 64.93 a dollar and touched a low of 65.11, a level last seen on 5 April. The rupee was trading at 65.10 a dollar, down 0.50% from its Thursday’s close of 64.80.

■ 9.13am: The 10-year bond yield was at 6.683%, a level last seen on 19 May, compared to its previous close of 6.675%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

■ 9.10am: Asian currencies were trading mixed. South Korean won was down 0.54%, Malaysian ringgit 0.25%, China Offshore 0.16%, Taiwan dollar 0.06%, Hong Kong dollar 0.05%. However, Japanese yen was up 0.64%, Philippines peso 0.25%, Indonesian rupiah 0.12%, China renminbi and Singapore dollar were up 0.05% each. The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 91.993, down 0.29% from its previous close of 92.259.