Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to a second straight day following a gap-down opening on Wednesday amid weakness across global markets. Selling pressure across most sectors led by financial and IT shares pulled the market lower. Gains in select metal, pharma and consumer shares lent some support to the market. Investors globally fretted over economic uncertainties that caused a spike in US bond yields and sent the dollar to an over 10-month peak.

Share Market Live

NSE

The Sensex index opened 371.1 points or 0.6 percent lower at 59,296.5 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark began the day at 17,658, down 90.7 points or 0.5 percent from its previous close.

At 9:25 am, the 30-scrip index was down 416.9 points or 0.7 percent at 59,250.7 and the Nifty gauge down 120.7 points at 17,628.

Among blue-chip stocks, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Wipro, Divi's Labs, Bajaj Finserv and Infosys -- down between 5.8 percent and 8 percent -- were among the top laggards in early deals.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Indian Oil, CIL, power Grid and BPCL, up between 3.4 percent and 5.7 percent, were the top performers among the 21 gainers in the Nifty50 universe.

Broader markets also fell, though the midcap and smallcap gauges took smaller losses than the headline indices. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices were down 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent respectively.

"It is too early to conclude that this is a trend reversal... Perhaps the buy-on-dips strategy may again work out, but at current elevated valuations, the risk is high. Investors may watch for consolidation," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"The rise in US bond yields triggering correction in equity markets has been a known threat for some time now. But what triggered this sudden spike in bond yield was the Fed chief's statement that inflation may persist for a much longer time," he said.

Meanwhile, equities in other Asian markets lost ground following sharp losses on Wall Street overnight, as investors fretted over economic uncertainties that caused a spike in US benchmark bond yields and sent the dollar to a 10-month peak. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 1.2 percent higher.

Catch LIVE market updates here

(Edited by : Sandeep Singh)