Sensex tumbles over 500 points in opening trade; Nifty below 13,800

HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2.50 per cent, followed by HDFC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, SBI, and Nestle India.

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 520 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking losses in index-heavyweight stocks like HDFC twins, TCS, Infosys and ICICI Bank amid weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 523.14 points or 1.10 per cent lower at 46,886.79.

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Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 167.80 points or 1.2 per cent to 13,799.70.

HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2.50 per cent, followed by HDFC, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, SBI, and Nestle India.

On the other hand, ONGC, NTPC, Reliance Industries and HUL were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the Sensex tumbled 937.66 points or 1.94 per cent to settle at 47,409.93, while the NSE Nifty plunged 271.40 points or 1.91 per cent to close the session at 13,967.50.

According to traders, recent foreign fund outflows from the domestic capital markets also had an impact on investor sentiment.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,688.22 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the red in mid-session deals.

US equities finished lower mainly due to lower earnings by tech giants and concerns over stretched valuation.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, were trading 0.45 per cent lower at USD 55.56 per barrel.