Stock Market: Sensex Dives 885 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,050; All Sectors In Red

Stock update: Power Grid, Tata Steel, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, and Titan were the major losers in the early trade on the Sensex platform

Sensex and Nifty, the to key equity benchmarks, on Monday opened sharply lower in early trade due to muted global sentiments. The domestic indices tumbled for the fourth day amid weak cues and foreign fund outflows.

At 10.20 am, the BSE Sensex plunged 885 points to 57,213 in the initial trade. On the other hand, the broader NSE Nifty declined 290 points to 17,036.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, and Titan were the major laggards in the early trade. On the flip side, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever were the only gainers.

In the broader market, Nifty MidCap 100 and Nifty SmallCap 100 indices dropped over 2 per cent each.

All sectors plunged in the negative zone, with the Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, and Nifty Realty indices taking the biggest hit.

On Friday, the BSE benchmark had tanked 1,020 points (1.73 per cent) to settle at 58,098 points, while the Nifty had plummeted 302.45 points or 1.72 per cent to end at 17,327.35 points.

"The global macro construct is not favourable for equity markets in the short run. The dollar index above 113 and the US 10-year yield at 3.73 per cent is likely to aggravate FPI outflows which have been gathering momentum during the last three days. The probability of a global recession is also increasing since the US Fed continues to be ultra-hawkish,” V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

"Although India is seen as a bright spot in times of global slowdown concerns, domestic markets will not be completely insulated from overseas turmoil and would continue to see bouts of intra-day volatility," Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower while Hong Kong quoted marginally higher. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Friday.

The international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.59 per cent to $85.64 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,899.68 crore on Friday, according to data available with the BSE.

Meanwhile, the rupee dropped 43 paise to an all-time low of 81.52 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as the strengthening of the American currency and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. On Friday, the rupee slumped 30 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 81.09 against the US dollar.