Opening bell: Sensex sheds over 400 points, Nifty below 24,300

Indian shares opened lower dragged by top private lender HDFC Bank, which reported a sequential decline in loans in the June quarter. The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.45% at 24,193.05 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.58% to 79,591.47 points as of 9:23 am. HDFC Bank lost 3%, pulling financials, private bank and bank indexes down 0.7%-1%.

The bank said after market close on Thursday that its gross advances declined 0.8% sequentially in June quarter. Deposits were flat from a quarter ago.

"The update is negative from a stock price point of view," said Piran Engineer, senior research analyst at CLSA, adding, "Since HDFC Bank is focused on repaying HDFC's liabilities, loan growth took a back seat, and was down 1% quarter-on-quarter."

Eight of the 13 major sectors logged losses. The broader small- and mid-caps were trading little changed.