Sensex tumbles over 300 pts in opening session: Nifty drops below 9,900

Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Monday dragged by losses in financial stocks amid weak cues from global markets and persistent foreign fund outflow.

After touching a low of 33,384.75, the 30-share index was trading 362.96 points, or 1.07 per cent, lower at 33,417.93.

Similarly, NSE Nifty dropped 96.90 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 9,876.

IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling around 4 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC, SBI, HDFC Bank and SBI.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Nestle India and Asian Paints were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer settled at 33,780.89, up 242.52 points, or 0.72 per cent, and the Nifty rose 70.90 points, or 0.72 per cent, to end at 9,972.90.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,311.49 crore in the capital market on Friday, provisional exchange data showed.

According to traders, negative cues from global markets on fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases and foreign fund outflow hit domestic sentiment here.

With signs that the deadly disease is coming back in China and seeing a resurgence in the United States too, investor optimism about economic recovery is beginning to fade, they said.

The number of cases linked to the disease around the world has crossed 79 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.33 lakh.

In India, the the number of infections rose to 3.32 lakh and the death toll rose to 9,520 and, according to the health ministry.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a negative note.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 2.01 per cent to USD 37.95 per barrel.