Sensex tanks 713 points while Nifty around 16,163 in early trade

Equity benchmark indices fell heavily on Monday, with the Sensex plummeting over 713 points in early trade, following a fall in index heavyweight Reliance Industries and a sell-off in global markets.

The continuous outflow of foreign funds and firm crude oil prices also continued to weigh on investors’ sentiment.

The BSE Sensex fell 713.49 points to 54,122.09 in early trade. The NSE Nifty tanked 248.7 points to 16,162.55.

Major laggards from the 30-share Sensex pack were Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and State Bank of India. Power Grid was the only gainer.

The rupee continued to fall and reached a lifetime low of 77.42 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday pulled down by the strength of the American country in the foreign market and unabated outflow of foreign funds. On Friday, the rupee fell 55 paise to settle at 76.90 against the US dollar.

Asian market peers in Tokyo and Korea were trading down, while Shanghai traded marginally higher.

“Asian markets got off to a shaky start on Monday as US stock futures took an early skid on rate worries, while a tightening lockdown in Shanghai stoked concerns about global economic growth and possible recession,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

US stock exchanges ended with losses on Friday.

Brent Crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 0.46% to USD 112.92 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors again sold shares worth Rs 5,517.08 crore on Friday.

On Friday, the Sensex nosedived 866.65 points or 1.56% to close at 54,835.58. The Nifty fell 271.40 points or 1.63% to settle at 16,411.25.