Nifty, Sensex open weak; falls over 150pts; Maruti down 2 pct

The market on Wednesday opened lower with the Nifty below 7850. The 50-share index opened down 44 points or 0.6 percent at 7846.75.

On the other hand, Sensex opened down 151.35 points or 0.6 percent at 25622.26.

Coal India, HUL, M&M are top gainers while ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Motors, GAIL and BHEL are losers in the Sensex.

The state-run giant State Bank of India will merge its five associate banks, along with Bharatiya Mahila Bank, with itself. In a press release, SBI said its board has given in-principle approval for the bank to discuss the possibility of acquiring its associate banks.

The five associate banks are State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur and State Bank of Patiala.

The Indian rupee opened at two months low at 66.95 per dollar. It opened lower by eight paise against previous close of 66.87.

Market analysts believe an uptick in US retail inflation along with firming up of oil prices have rekindled rate hike fears across markets.

The US dollar dipped against a basket of major currencies after US Inflation data failed to convince currency traders that the Federal Reserve was moving closer to another interest rate hike.