"equity-markets"

Among stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra skidded by 2.2 per cent to Rs 717.65 per share while Tata Motors was down by 2 per cent to Rs 176.80.

Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, SBI, HDFC Bank, M&M, Asian Paints and Reliance Industries.

The Indian currency opened at 73.16 at the interbank forex market and touched an intra-day high of 73.08 and a low of 73.41 against the greenback.