Indian shares opened at 17-month lows on Thursday, following losses in global markets, as investors tally the economic damage of coronavirus. At 9:18 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 1609 points lower at 34,099, while the Nifty50 was down 471 points at 9,987. Meanwhile, the Rupee also slipped to a 17-month low of 74.25 against the US dollar.

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Globally, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.27 percent in early trade while Nikkei futures suggest a 0.5 percent fall in Japanese shares. Australia's benchmark was also down 2.8 percent.

Back home, all Nifty stocks were in the red at the opening, while Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, ONGC, and Vedanta led the losses.

Broader markets bled in early deals with Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices down 5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

Sectoral indices also witnessed selloff With Nifty PSU Bank index tumbling nearly 8 percent. Nifty Metal, Nifty Media and Nifty Realty also lost around 7 percent each, while Nifty IT, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto shed around 5 percent each. Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG was down over 4 percent.

Yes Bank declined another 10 percent after a Mumbai court extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, arrested on money laundering charges, till March 16.

Axis Bank shed 8 percent while ITC was down over 5 percent after reports stated that the government is planning to sell Rs 8000 crore worth of Axis Bank and ITC shares held through SUUTI.