Markets open lower amid volatility; Sensex drops 176 points

The domestic equity markets made losses on Friday morning, tracking mixed cues from Asian stocks. US markets finished higher in choppy trade Thursday in the aftermath of the December consumer price index (CPI) report. Consumer inflation in the US slipped in December to the lowest level in over a year, rising 6.5 per cent from a year ago. According to exchanges, BSE Sensex dropped 176 points to 59,781.42 while NSE Nifty 50 dipped 55 points to 17,826.45 points in morning trade on Friday. It is expected that domestic stocks might strengthen later in the session. Some of the active stocks that went up on BSE were Finolex Industries, CG Power, ITI, Nations Standard India and Apcotex Industries. Motherson, Marksans, BCG and Apar Industries were some of the laggards. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went down 300 points, Hong Kong's Hang Seng went up 10 points while China's Shanghai SE surged 17 points on Friday morning.