Indian equities open lower on tax worries

A key Indian stock markets index opened in the red on Friday and declined further as worries persisted over the tax claims made by the authorities on foreign funds despite clarifications sought to be made by the finance ministry.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened lower at 27,804.58 points, against the previous day's close at 27,735.02 points. Some 10 minutes into trading it was ruling at 27,653.10 points, with a loss of 81.92 points,or 0.30 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty was down 37.25 points, at 0.44 percent.