Indian opening on firm note Indian stock markets fell sharply today on panic selling as fears of early elections hurt investor sentiments. Weak European markets added further to the fall. The Sensex lost 2.15% to close at 16063.18 while the Nifty index fell 2.68% to close at 4739.60. Maruti Suzuki (India) rose 2.85% after the company reported a 16% rise in total vehicle sales to 69,001 units in May 2008 over May 2007. NTPC fell 6.39%.

     The BSE Bankex fell 3.37% today to close at 7454.33. SBI dropped 3.41% while ICICI Bank slid 2.97% to close at 764.85.

     Most Asian benchmarks advanced today apart from India. MSCI Asia Pacific added 1.1% to 151.61 while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.7% to 14,440.14. BHP gained 4.6%.