Sensex drops over 250 pts: Nifty below 12,200

Market benchmark Sensex tumbled over 250 points in opening session on Monday tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC duo, Kotak Bank and Reliance Industries amid weak global cues.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 240.72 points or 0.58 per cent lower at 41,372.47. Similarly, the broader NSE was trading 76.70 points, or 0.63 per cent, down at 12,171.55.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, HDFC twins, Hero Motocorp, SBI and Tech Mahindra.

On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, M&M, Titan and NTPC were trading on a positive note.

According to analysts, global investors increasingly turned nervous as fears over the global economic impact of the deadly China virus extended last week's selloff.

On the domestic front, analysts expect the cautious trend to continue in the near-term since a lot has been factored in the market about budget wish list and expectation of revival in earnings growth, but the actual Q3 results have been below par.

Bourses in Japan were trading with sharp losses, while markets in China, Korea and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.

Brent crude oil futures fell 2.08 per cent to USD 59.43 per barrel.

The rupee depreciated 10 paise to 71.43 against the US dollar in morning session.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 226.79 points, or 0.55 per cent, higher at 41,613.19, and Nifty closed 67.90 points, or 0.56 per cent, up at 12,248.25.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 659.11 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 417.96 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchanges showed.