Sensex falls over 300 points, Nifty breaks 11,600

Domestic stock market saw a sudden plunge, sending the benchmark indices tumbling which were till then trading flat after a start in the red zone.

At 2:21 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex had slumped 290 points, or 0.75 per cent, to trade around 38,649, dragged down by the HDFC duos, TCS, ITC, and ICICI Bank. The Nifty50, too, dropped 75 points, or 0.64 per cent, to hover around 11,597.

Asian shares also slipped from eight-month highstoday as the International Monetary Fund lowered its global growth outlook and as the United States and Europe locked horns over tariffs in a fresh escalation of trade tensions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.1 per cent, a day after it hit its highest since August 1. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.7 per cent.

Earlier in the day, the equity benchmark indices opened on a weak note on a day before the first round of polling for Lok Sabha elections, as investors awaited corporate earnings for 2018-19.

Renewed concern about a global economic slowdown and escalation in trade tensions contributed to the dull sentiment.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down 48 points at 38,890 while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 9 points to 11,663.

At the National Stock Exchange, most sectoral indices were in the green except IT and financial services.

Among early gainers were Cipla, Indiabulls Housing Finance, ONGC, Coal India and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth Rs 1,212.35 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities to the tune of Rs 688.65 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The rupee appreciated 17 paise to 69.12 against the US dollar in early trade.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was quoting marginally higher at USD 70.63 per barrel.

(With inputs from agencies)