Indian markets opened with a gap-down in line with other global peers as fears of economic turmoil, in the Europe resurfaced. All the sectoral indices were in the red with realty, metals and IT worst hit.

At 9:15 am, National Stock Exchanges Nifty was at 5001.15, down 92.35 points or 1.81 per cent. The index fell below 5000 mark in early trade to a low of 4991.70.

Bombay Stock Exchanges Sensex was at 16670.50, down 324.09 points or 1.91 per cent. The 30-share index hit a low of 16637.42 and high of 16961.92 in early trade.

The Indian stock market has slowed substantially after last year's stunning rally. The key indices remain stuck in a range even as the NSE Nifty has made several attempts at breaking free from the rangebound trading pattern. The European debt crisis has only made that task tougher.

In fact, there are chances of the market falling further if the situation in Europe doesn't improve fast enough. China's red-hot economy is another cause for worry even as the US continues to exhibit anemic recovery and the UK is struggling with high budget deficit.

Back home, inflation represents the biggest challenge - for the market as well as for the policymakers. All eyes are now on monsoon. Talk of poor start to the rainy season spooked the sentiment on Friday. Hopefully, the IMD's prediction will prove wrong again.

Our forecast for today is another weak start following the renewed bloodbath in the US and European markets. Asian markets are in the red this morning. Don't get fooled by any intra-day relief rallies, as risk-reward equation is still not favourable for the bulls, said India Infoline report.

BSE Midcap Index was down 1.06 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index declined 1.22 per cent.

Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index was down 2.35 per cent, BSE Metal Index fell 2.22 per cent and BSE IT Index slipped 2.04 per cent.

DLF (-4.42%), Tata Steel (-3.79%), Axis Bank (-3.67%), IDFC (-3.54%) and Reliance Infra (-3.51%) were the top Nifty losers.

ABB (23.66%) and Siemens (1.95%) were the only two Nifty gainers.

Market breadth was negative on the NSE with 1408 losers against 510 advances.

Meanwhile, the US stocks fell Friday on concerns over European sovereign debt issues. The Asian markets followed suit today. Nikkei 225 was down 1.98 per cent, Shanghai Composite fell 2.87%, Hang Seng slipped 2.36 per cent and Seoul Composite declined 2.78 per cent.