Sensex Falls Over 500 Points, Nifty Trades Below 17,650; RIL, Maruti Among Top Drags

Equity indices plunged on Monday with the benchmark BSE Sensex falling more than 500 points in early trade. As of 9:26 am, the 30-share BSE index was down 503 points or 0.84 per cent to 59,133; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 140 points or 0.79 per cent lower to 17,625.

New Delhi: Equity indices plunged on Monday with the benchmark BSE Sensex falling more than 500 points in early trade. As of 9:26 am, the 30-share BSE index was down 503 points or 0.84 per cent to 59,133; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 140 points or 0.79 per cent lower to 17,625.

Major laggards in the BSE pack included Reliance Industries (RIL), Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv and SBI with their shares down as much as 3.73 per cent.

On the NSE platform, all the sub-indices were trading in red with Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank down as much as 1.43 per cent.

"Given that most of the quarterly results and the festive mood are behind us, indices are expected to move sideways. As markets across the world are trying to decode the implications of rising inflation, any intensive selling by FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) may take Indian indices lower, unless the domestic players provide support," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd. said.