New Delhi, May 20 (H.S.): The Indian equity markets opened in the red on Wednesday, the third trading session of the week, amid escalating West Asia tensions and weak global cues. In early trade, both benchmark indices the Sensex and the Nifty witnessed sharp declines, with the Sensex falling by 464 points and the Nifty slipping by 88 points.

The BSE Sensex was trading lower by 464.17 points or 0.62 per cent at 74,736.68. Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange of India also declined by 87.60 points or 0.37 per cent to trade at 23,530.40.

Among the 30 constituent companies of the Sensex, stocks of Tata Steel, Bharat Electronics Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Eternal and UltraTech Cement were trading in the negative territory.

On the other hand, shares of Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries and Tech Mahindra recorded gains.

Asian markets also traded lower, with South Korea’s KOSPI, Japan’s Nikkei 225, China’s SSE Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index all in negative territory.

In commodities, international benchmark Brent crude rose to USD 110.8 per barrel. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened by 20 paise in early trade, touching a record low of 96.90 against the US dollar.

Notably, on Tuesday, the Sensex had closed lower by 114.19 points, while the Nifty had declined by 31.95 points.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar