CNBC-TV18 Opening Bell: Sensex, Nifty start lower on weak global cues; Bharti Airtel, Grasim top gainers

Indian shares started Thursday's trade on a negative note amid subdued global cues and fresh concerns over the health of Indian banking industry.

The Reserve Bank of India rejected the proposed merger of Indiabulls Housing Finance and Lakshmi Vilas Bank, raising questions over the asset quality of banks and non-banking financial companies.

The BSE Sensex slipped over 99 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 38,078 in the initial tick. The NSE Nifty50 also declined nearly 36 points, or 0.32 percent, to trade at 11,277.60.

Broader market indices also fell with the Nifty MidCap 100 index slipping 0.34 percent.

Nifty Bank slipped almost a percent. Among sectors, consumer durables, teck, oil & gas, power, basic metal and energy advanced, while banks, IT, finance, pharma, FMCG and auto declined.

Among index gainers, Bharti Airtel jumped over 6 percent and Grasim surged nearly 5.5 percent. Bharti Infratel, Reliance Industries and UltraTech Cement were other major gainers, rising by up to 3.5 percent.

Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, SBI and Tata Motors were top losers, falling by up to 3 percent in early trade.

Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) shares gained over a percent as the index heavyweight’s telecom arm, Reliance Jio Infocomm's move to charge users for inter-connect fee will boost the operating profit of the telecom operator.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shares traded mildly up ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings due after market hours today.

In the currency market, the Indian rupee gained, opening higher by 12 paise at 70.95 per dollar against the previous close of 71.07.