Sensex cracks 408 points on global sell-off; Nifty below 10,400-mark; IT, tech, auto, oil & gas stocks trade in negative

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex sank over 408 points in early trade Friday on heavy selling in IT, energy and banking stocks triggered by weak trends in global markets. The broader NSE NIfty dipped below the 10,400-mark as 32 of its constituents led by Indiabulls Housing Finance dropped. The NSE Nifty index fell 80.85 points, or 0.77 per cent, at 10,372.30. The BSE 30-share barometer dropped 408.45 points, or 1.17 percent, to 34,371.13 in early trade. IT, tech, auto, oil and gas and bankex were trading in the negative zone, down up to 2.40 percent. The gauge had lost 382.90 points in the previous session on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_4357439” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Represenational image. Reuters.[/caption] Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped more than 5 percent despite better-than-expected earnings posted by the company on Wednesday. RIL reported its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs 9,516 crore, a 17.4 percent rise year-on-year, for the July-September period. Other laggards were Yes Bank, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, M&M, Tata Motors, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, HUL, Coal India, L&T and HDFC Bank, falling up to 3.57 percent. Sentiments also dampened after Chinese shares extended and the yuan touched its weakest level in almost two years. Chinese stocks plunged 2.94 percent, Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.17 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.26 percent following overnight losses at the Wall Street due to interest rate hike concerns and impact of tariffs. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.273 percent down Wednesday. Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 343.11 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 140.02 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed. Markets remained closed on Thursday on account of Dussehra.