Key indices opened sharply lower taking cues from weak Asian stocks. At 9:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1184.94 points or 3.08% at 37,285.67. The Nifty 50 index was down 345.30 points or 3.06% at 10,923.70.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 3.70%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 3.14%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 98 shares rose and 1165 shares fell. A total of 33 shares were unchanged.

Stocks in news:

Punjab National Bank fell 5.23%. Oriental Bank of Commerce rose 3.08%. United Bank of India crashed 19.92%. Punjab National Bank (PNB) board approved share exchange ratio for the merger with Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India. Accordingly share swap ratio will be 1150 equity shares of Rs 2 each of PNB for every 1000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of Oriental Bank of Commerce and 121 equity shares of Rs 2 each of PNB for every 1000 equity shares of Rs 10 each of United Bank of India.

Union Bank of India shed 4.57%. Andhra Bank slumped 6.80%. Corporation Bank crashed 18.90%. Union Bank has approved the share exchange ratio for a merger with Andhra Bank & Corporation Bank. Share swap ratio, as per the filing stands at 325 shares of Union Bank for every 1,000 shares of Andhra Bank & 330 shares of Union Bank of India for every 1,000 shares of Corporation Bank.

State Bank of India (SBI) dived 7.20%. SBI said that the matter regarding buying stake in Yes Bank was discussed at the meeting of the central board of the bank on 5 March 2020 and an in-principle approval has been given by the board to explore investment opportunity in the bank.

Yes Bank crashed 14.93%. Yes Bank was placed under a "moratorium" late yesterday (5 March 2020), with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) capping depositor withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseding the board with immediate effect. RBI assured the depositors of the bank that their interest will be fully protected and there is no need to panic.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories was down 1.47%. Dr Reddy's Laboratories said USFDA has issued Form 483 with 3 observations for API manufacturing plant at Miryalaguda, Telangana.

Mahindra & Mahindra was down 4.28%. Mahindra & Mahindra said its production fell 55.96% to 25,643 units in February 2020 from 58,231 units in February 2019. Sales declined 43.02% to 30,083 units in February 2020 from 52,799 units in February 2019.

Lupin fell 1.20%. Lupin has launched the authorized generic for Horizon Therapeutics PLC's Vimovo in the US market, which is used for the treatment of arthritis & gastric ulcers.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were trading sharply lower on Friday following another Wall Street rout as disruptions to global business from the coronavirus beyond China worsened, stoking fears of a prolonged world economic slowdown.

In US, stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday as anxieties about the worldwide spread of COVID-19 lingered and concerns about the ability of governments to control the impact of the disease on their economies sent the benchmark US Treasury note yield to a fresh all-time low.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)