Mumbai: Indian equity indices opened lower on Wednesday following weak global cues from US and Asian markets.

At 9:43 a.m., Sensex was down 553 points or 0.67 per cent at 81,998 and Nifty was down 180 points or 0.70 per cent at 25,099.

Banking and IT stocks lead the fall. Nifty Bank was at 51,272, down by 416 points or 0.81 per cent. Nifty IT was at 42,202, down by 648 points or 1.50 per cent.

In the Sensex pack, Wipro, JSW, Infosys, L&T, Tata Steel, SBI, Axis Bank, NTPC, M&M and Axis Bank were the top losers. Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and Sun Pharma were the top gainers.

Almost all Asian markets are trading in the red. There is a decline in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul. Only Jakarta markets are in the green. American markets closed in the red on Tuesday.