Sensex down 400 points, Nifty below 15,000

Mumbai, March 5 The key Indian equity indices opened on a negative note on Friday with the BSE Sensex falling over 400 points.

At 9.17 a.m., Sensex was trading at 50,430.11, lower by 415.97 points or 0.82 per cent from its previous close of 50,846.08.

It opened at 50,517.36 and touched an intraday high of 50,547.00 and a low of 50,311.47 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,964.00, lower by 116.75 points or 0.77 per cent from its previous close.

Selling pressure was witnessed in banking, finance and metal stocks, while buying took place in oil and gas and energy stocks.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, NTPC and Maruti Suzuki India while IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were the major losers.

( With inputs from IANS )