Sensex plunges 160.22 points, Nifty at 11488.40; banks, pharma, auto to blame

With Sensex down 160.22 points or 0.42% at 38082.59, and the Nifty down 48.50 points or 0.42% at 11488.40, the markets on Friday morning started on a negative note. With banks, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and FMCG dragging the most, there's all round selling among all sectors. 478 shares advanced while there's a decline of 527 shares and 55 shares were unchanged.

The top gainers are Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and GAIL stocks and ICICI Bank while Sun Pharma lost the most.

For a change, rupee Friday opened on a positive note and was trading marginally higher by 4 paise at 71.95 to the US dollar.

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A slight weakness was seen in the American unit against some currencies including yen on fears that US President Donald Trump would take up trade issues with Japan. The dollar trend overseas supported the rupee but losses in domestic equities kept investors mood dampened, capping the domestic currency's gains.

The rupee Thursday plunged to new record low of 72.11 a dollar in intra-day trade before closing at 71.99, showing a steep 24 paise fall.