Indian Markets Open Lower; Sensex Down 100 Points

Indian stock markets opened lower on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 105.13 points to 26,122. The 30-share index touched a high of 26,272.84 in morning trade. The Nifty50 fell 0.31 percent to 8054.55, after touching a high of 8,104.65 in morning trade.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index rose 0.22 percent, while the BSE S&P Smallcap Index declined 0.09 percent.

The Indian rupee fell around 31 paise to trade at 68.13 versus the U.S. dollar on Friday.

 3M India , Visa Steel and NHP C are scheduled to report their quarterly financial results on Friday.

Direxion Daily India Bull 2X Shares INDL rose 0.42 percent to close at $42.74 on Thursday, while PowerShares India Portfolio (ETF) PIN gained 0.11 percent to close at $18.85.

US stock markets closed higher overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.19 percent, the S&P500 index surging 0.47 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.74 percent.

US WTI crude futures on the NYMEX dropped 0.96 percent to trade at $45.54 per barrel.

Top market movers among the BSE index are as follows

• Capital Trade Links Ltd. rose about 19 percent to 53.90 INR.
• Wallfort Financial Services Ltd. rose 18 percent to 50.00 INR.
• Swastika Investmart Ltd. shares surged 18 percent to 65.00 INR.
• Kilburn Chemicals Ltd. shares gained around 15 percent to 25.35 INR.

• Ankush Finstock Ltd dropped around 20 percent to 11.28 INR.
• Oasis Tradelink Ltd. fell around 20 percent to 54.50 INR.
• Monnet Project Developers Ltd. slipped 19 percent to 12.00 INR.
• Kilburn Chemicals Ltd. shares declined 16 percent to 32.15 INR.