Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities was 213 points down Friday morning as investors were worried that the Reserve Bak of India (RBI) may announce a more restrictive credit policy later in the day.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,253.82 points, was at 16,119.77 points, down 213.31 points or 1.31 percent from its previous close at 16,289.82 points.

At 10.46 a.m., at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was at 4,803.45 points, against the previous close at 4,867.25 points, a similar loss of 1.31 percent.

Broader markets were also in the red, with the BSE midcap index down 1.97 percent and the BSE small cap index trading 2.22 percent lower.

Among the major losers were Tata Steel, Wipro, and HUL.

The RBI Thursday set the stage for tightening the monetary policy in the quarterly update due Friday with concerns over rising inflation even as it upgraded the country’s growth outlook for this fiscal to 6.9 percent from 6 percent.

Other major Asian markets too were on the losing side, with the benchmark Japanese index, Nikkei, trading 1.67 percent lower at 10,240.83 points, and the Korean Kospi 2.36 percent down at 1,603.72 points.

The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was 0.78 percent lower at 20,198.19 pointsm.

However, the Chinese Shanghai composite index was in the positive terrain, at 3,013.02 points, 0.63 percent up.