Mumbai, Nov 17 (IANS) Indian equities markets opened higher Monday but immediately began to shed value with a key index even going below the psychologically important 9,000 mark before again inching up to stay just above that mark two hours into trading.Two hours into trading the 30-share benchmark sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was ruling at 9,039.34, down 346.08 points or 3.69 percent from its previous close last Friday at 9,385.42 points. The Sensex opened slightly higher at 9,396.93 but immediately began to slide to hit an intra-day low of 8,993.55 before inching up to its current value. The broader-based 50 share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also showed a similar trend and was ruling at 2,717.90, down 92.45 points or 3.29 percent from its previous close at 2,810.35 points. The BSE midcap index was ruling at 3,117.79, down 98.29 points or 3.06 percent from its previous close at 3,216.08 points. The BSE smallcap index was ruling at 3,661.26, down 103.79 points or 2.76 percent from its previous close at 3,765.05 points.

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