Sensex Plunges Over 700 Points On Weak Global Cues, Nifty Trades Below 16,250

Indian equity benchmarks on Monday plunged sharply in opening deals amid weak cues from the global markets.

Asian markets got off to a shaky start today as U.S. stock futures took an early skid on interest rate worries.

Investors also turned jittery amid a lockdown in Shanghai, stoking fears about global economic growth and possible recession. Speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin might declare war on Ukraine further hurt market sentiment.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a gap-down start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dived 701 points or 1.28 per cent to 54,136 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 192 points or 1.17 per cent down to trade at 16,219.

Mid- and small-cap shares were negative as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.63 per cent and small-cap slipped 1.74 per cent.

All of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the red. Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty IT were underperforming the index by falling as much as 1.82 per cent, 1.81 per cent and 1.72 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Tech Mahindra was the top loser as the stock cracked 4.53 per cent to ₹ 1,232.25. Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and Axis Bank were also among the losers.

The overall market breadth stood weak as 782 shares were advancing while 890 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, TechM, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Wipro, TCS, Axis Bank, SBI and L&T were among the top laggards.

In contrast, Bharti Airtel was trading in the green.

Sensex had slumped 867 points or 1.56 per cent to close at 54,836 on Friday, while Nifty had moved 271 points or 1.63 per cent down to settle at 16,411.