Markets open on weak note: Sensex drops over 500 points, Nifty at 15,530

Both Sensex and Nifty had on Friday posted their first weekly fall in five, after the US central bank's hawkish turn last week.

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty saw a weak opening on Monday. The 30-share BSE Sensex index dropped over 500 points, while the broader Nifty 50 benchmark was at 15,530. At 9:15am on Monday, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.74% to 51,954.34. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.69% to 15,530.

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In Mumbai trading, PNB Housing Finance fell 5% to hit its lower circuit limit after markets regulator asked the company to put on hold a share allocation to a clutch of investors led by private equity firm Carlyle Group. Shares of investment banking company Centrum Capital gained more than 16% after India's central bank approved the takeover by the company's unit of troubled Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank.

Heavyweight financial stocks were the biggest drags on the Nifty 50, with the Nifty Bank Index falling 1.09% and setting it on track for a fourth straight session of declines.

Both Sensex and Nifty had on Friday posted their first weekly fall in five, after the US central bank's hawkish turn last week.

(With inputs from Reuters)