Sensex cracks below 35,000; Nifty slips below 10,600

New Delhi: Markets opened in the red on Friday with the BSE Sensex dropping below the psychological 35,000-mark  ahead of the RBI's bi-monthly policy meet outcome amid weak global cues.

The Sensex opened at 35,097.99 from its previous close of 35,169.16 on Thursday. It lost 1,356.98 points in the previous two sessions on rupee woes and boiling crude oil prices. Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange opened at 10,514.10.

Stocks of state-run oil companies were under selling pressure as the government Thursday announced a Rs 2.50 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices after it reduced excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre and asked oil companies to absorb another Re 1.

The rupee recovered 6 paise to 73.52 against the US dollar at the forex market. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 2,760.63 crore Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,823.59 crore, provisional data showed.

Asian shares wobbled on Friday. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3 percent, while Japan`s Nikkei dropped 0.5 percent and Australian benchmark was up just 0.1 percent. Wall Street stocks, in turn, have fallen broadly on Thursday, with the Dow suffering its first decline in six sessions and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq seeing their worst day since June 25.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.75 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.82 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.81 percent, Reuters wrote.

With Agency Inputs