Equity markets suffered heavy losses on Thursday as the 30-share BSE Sensex lost more than 1,400 points. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty also slumped more than 2.5%.

Sensex dropped 2.61% to 52,792.23, while Nifty ended down 2.65% at 15,809.40.

At 9.30 am, Sensex had started trading at 53,070.30, below the previous closing mark of 54,208.53. Nifty had opened at 15,917.40.

The poor sentiment in markets was mainly due to a selloff in foreign exchanges. Overnight, United States-based indices Nasdaq and S&P 500 lost 3% each. As a result, stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region also opened with losses on Thursday morning, according to Reuters.

Concerns about a high levels of inflation and an economic slowdown in India also weighed down investor sentiments, the news agency reported. India’s retail inflation rose to an eight-year high of 7.79% in April. Meanwhile, the price rise indicator in wholesale markets was at 15.08% in April. It has now remained in double digits for 13 consecutive months.

Major information technology stocks like Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro and Tech Mahindra were among the top laggards in the Indian markets with their shares losing in the range of 5.04% to 6.21%.

Meanwhile, the rupee plunged to a record low of 77.72 against the US dollar due to the poor performance of the domestic share market and the outflow of foreign funds, reported PTI.

On Thursday, the rupee opened lower at 77.82 and finished at 77.72, down by 10 paise over its previous close. It touched an intra-day low of 77.76 and a high of 77.63.