Mumbai: Stocks markets opened in the red on Thursday, with a massive nearly 7 percent fall in the key indices.
The sell-off continued in the Indian markets, in line with the Asian indices amid the continuous fears of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sensex fell below the psychological 27,000 mark while Nifty breached the 8,000 level.
At 9.24 a.m., Sensex was at 26,878.50, lower by 1,991.01 points or 6.90 per cent from the previous close of 28,869.51.
It had opened at 27,773.36 and has so far touched a low of 26,875.10
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 7,911.40, lower by 557.40 or 6.58 per cent from its previous close.
The Indian rupee hit a new record low on Thursday as it opened at 74.95 per dollar against its previous close of 74.26 a greenback.
The recent depreciation in the Indian currency has been on the back of the persistent pressure of the coronavirus fears across global markets along with the freefall in oil prices.
Currently, it is trading around 74.89 per dollar, depreciating by around 0.9 per cent from its previous close.
Stock markets also plunged on Thursday morning as the Sensex fell below the 27,000-mark and Nifty50 breached 8,000 for the first time in over three years.
In a bid to increase liquidity and enhance confidence in the market amid the coronavirus crisis, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced it would purchase government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore through open market operations.
Ms Kalinga