Sensex tumbles over 300 pts in early trade, Nifty slips below 11,150

Equity benchmark Sensex plunged over 300 pts in early trade on Friday tracking losses in financial stocks amid global equity selloff.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 307.31 points, or 0.81 per cent, lower at 37,833.16.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 83.10 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 11,132.35.

HDFC was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Asian Paints, SBI, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer finished 268.95 points, or 0.71 per cent, higher at 38,140.47, and the Nifty advanced 82.85 points, or 0.74 per cent, to close at 11,215.45.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,740.50 crore, provisional exchange data showed.

According to traders, domestic market turned weak as negative news flow from the US spurred concerns over global economic recovery.

The US got another dose of bad economic news on Thursday as the number of laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week for the first time since late March, intensifying concerns that the resurgent coronavirus is stalling or even reversing the economic recovery.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with significant losses.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street too ended on a negative note in overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.39 per cent to USD 43.48 per barrel.