Sensex Gives Up 226 Points In Early Trade; Nifty Nears 7,900

(RTTNews) - Indian shares opened sharply lower on Monday as confusion persists over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on Saturday that market players should contribute to the national exchequer.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 226 points or 0.87 percent at 25,814 in early trade after dropping about 450 points last week to suffer its biggest loss in five weeks. The broader Nifty index was down 76 points or 0.96 percent at 7,909.

Other Asian markets are subdued in thin holiday trade after China's President Xi Jinping admitted that China's economic growth will slow below the government's 6.5 percent target. The Indian rupee opened flat at 67.82 versus Friday's closing of 67.82 per dollar.

Yes Bank fell 2.5 percent after raising Rs. 3,000 crore via a bonds issue to fund business expansion.

ONGC dropped 1.5 percent after it announced acquisition of entire 80 percent stake in state-run GSPC.

Divis Labs slumped 12 percent to extend Friday's losses after the U.S. FDA issued 5 observations relating to its Vizag plant.

Maruti Suzuki India shares slid about half a percent. The country's largest carmaker reiterated its full-year volume growth of 10 percent for 2016-17.