Sensex tumbles over 300 points in early trade; Nifty below 10,300
Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Monday dragged by losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Infosys amid negative cues from global markets. The 30-share index was trading 323.91 points, or 0.92 per cent, lower at 34,847.36, while the NSE Nifty fell 83.65 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 10,299.35.
Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the Sensex pack, dropping around 4 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC duo and Infosys.
On the other hand, ITC, Sun Pharma, Nestle India and PowerGrid were among the gainers.
In the previous session, the BSE barometer closed 329.17 points, or 0.94 per cent, higher at 35,171.27, and the broader Nifty surged 94.10 points, or 0.90 per cent, to finish at 10,383.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers on Friday, offloading equities worth Rs 753.18 crore, provisional exchange data showed.
According to traders, the unabated rise in COVID-19 cases across the world weighed on investor sentiment.
Further, geopolitical tensions like India-China border issue and US-China trade tiff also kept participants on edge, traders said.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan and Seoul were trading with significant losses.
The number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 1 crore and the death toll has topped 5 lakh.
In India, the number of coronavirus infections rose to 5.48 lakh, while the death toll due stood at 16,475, according to the health ministry.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.69 per cent to USD 40.24 per barrel.
