Sensex drops over 100 points, Nifty below 10,750 on global market selloff

NEW DELHI: Domestic shares opened in the negative territory on Tuesday, tracking the weakness in Asian peers that suffered losses in the wake of a selloff on Wall Street.

Asian stocks skidded on Tuesday, extending sharp losses on Wall Street as technology firms bore the brunt of worries about slackening demand, while the dollar sagged after weak US data further sapped confidence in the currency, Reuters reported.

The benchmark Sensex slipped over 130 points in opening deals while Nifty touched 10,716 on the downside.


Around 9:25 am, the 30-share Sensex was 79 points, or 0.22 per cent, down at 35,696, with 23 stocks in the red.

The Nifty50 was 41 points, or 0.38 per cent, down at 10,722, with 12 stocks advancing and 38 declining in trade.

Midcaps and smallcaps fell in sync with the benchmark Sensex. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.27 per cent and 0.21 per cent down, respectively, at that time.

The domestic unit rupee opened 20 paise higher at 71.47 against the US currency, extended its gaining streak for the sixth straight session.

The weakness in US dollar against its peers, foreign fund inflow and softening crude oil prices provided support to the domestic currency.

Selling prevailed in most sectors, with IT, technology and metal counters under pressure.

Oil & gas stocks, however, were bucking the trend. GAIL, HPCL, BPCL, Petronet LNG and Indian Oil Corporation were trading with decent gains.

In the Sensex kitty, YES Bank plunged 5 per cent, a day after logging strong gains. Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Vedanta and Wipro appeared among the top losers in early trade today.

IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Tata Motors and ONGC were among the gainers in the Sensex index.