Nifty opens Jan series lower, Sensex weak

The market started off the year 2016 and January series on a negative note after rising 0.6 percent in previous session on Friday.

The Sensex fell 50.99 points to 26066.55 and the Nifty declined 19.70 points to 7926.65.

Sun Pharma, ONGC, Coal India, GAIL, Infosys and HCL Technologies were early losers while Dr Reddy's Labs, SBI, Maruti Suzuki, ACC, PNB, Vedanta and Ambuja Cements gained.

The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 66.18 per dollar today against previous close of 66.15.

Experts believe that the USD is expected to challenge 66.20 levels considering global holidays. Rupee will take cues from Indian equity market today.

Core sector data for November released post market hours Thursday continued to underscore the patchy nature of the economic recovery.

Cement, steel, crude oil and natural gas production declined month-on-month, and electricity production was unchanged. Fertilizer, refined petroleum products and coal output increased, but barring refined products, the pace of growth was slower.