Mumbai, March 19  Stocks markets opened in the red on Thursday, with a massive nearly 7 per cent fall in the key indices.

The sell-off continued in the Indian markets, in line with the Asian indices amid the continuous fears of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sensex fell below the psychological 27,000 mark while Nifty breached the 8,000 level.

At 9.24 a.m., Sensex was at 26,878.50, lower by 1,991.01 points or 6.90 per cent from the previous close of 28,869.51.

It had opened at 27,773.36 and has so far touched a low of 26,875.10

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 7,911.40, lower by 557.40 or 6.58 per cent from its previous close.