Sensex skids 315 points, Nifty slips below 10,700 on global cues; metal, realty, power, infrastructure stocks fall

Mumbai: The market extended losses in afternoon trade with the Sensex falling about 315 points to 35,108.91 on Monday on weak global cues amid US-China trade tensions.

Intense selling pressure was witnessed in select counters, led by metal, realty and power stocks.

The Nifty is also trading way below 10,700 levels, weighed down by HUL, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports and Vedanta.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and a weak rupee added to the gloom, broker said.

European shares opened lower, amid weak Asian markets, as trade tensions between the US and its trading partners continues to be a key concern for investors.

The 30-share BSE index opened higher at 35,545.22 and advanced to 35,578.24 in early trade. However, it slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 35,106.57, to trade at 35,108.91 showing a steep fall of 314.57 or 0.89 percent at 1315 hrs.

Likewise, the 50-stock NSE barometer Nifty slipped below the crucial 10,700 mark to trade at 10,607.55, down 106.75 points, or 1 percent. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,736.15 and 10,10,604.65.

Sectoral indices led by metal, realty, power, infrastructure, PSU, capital goods, oil & gas and banking stocks were trading in the negative zone, falling up to 2.99 percent.

Major losers were NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, Adani Ports, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, SBI, L&T, Coal India, M&M, RIL, ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Ltd, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp and Power Grid, falling up to 3.89 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 157.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 2,262.83 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

Asian stocks extend losses with China’s Shanghai Composite down 2.52 percent, South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.35 percent and Japan’s Nikkei falling 2.29 percent as investors keep an eye on trade tensions between the US and its trading partners, most notably China.

In European markets Frankfurt’s DAX shed 1.30 percent and Paris CAC 40 lost 1.10 percent. London’s FTSE fell 0.70 percent in early deals.