Sensex drops 100 points in early trade, Nifty at 11,117; Bharti Airtel down over 2%

The Indian stock market opened in the negative territory on Monday, with the benchmark Sensex of the BSE falling over 100 points in opening trade. The Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange traded 26 points, or 0.23%, lower at 11,117.10 points. Most banking stocks like ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, SBI, along with other index heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, and Tata Motors, witnessed heavy selling pressure on the Sensex index.

The domestic sharemarket opened in red tracking weak global cues, along with a lower opening of the rupee and negative SGX Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange. The rupee fell sharply by 29 paise to 72.49 against the dollar in opening trade on Monday. According to a Reuters report, Asian shares stumbled in holiday-thinned trading as China ramped up trade tensions by canceling upcoming tariff talks with the United States, while oil prices jumped after top producers ruled out boosting crude output.

The Indian stock market had witnessed a sudden crush in mid-day trade on Friday, with the BSE Sensex suddenly plunging 1,127.58 points, or 3.03%, to hit a low of 35,993.64. The index had, however, quickly recovered and finally closed at 36,841.60, down 279.62 points, after an intra-day swing of 1,495.60 points. The broader NSE Nifty shed 91.25 points to end at 11,143.10 points.

Following the plunge, the Reserve Bank of India on Sunday said it along with Sebi is “closely monitoring” recent developments in financial markets and “ready” to take actions, if necessary. “The Reserve Bank of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India are closely monitoring recent developments in financial markets and are ready to take appropriate actions, if necessary,” the central bank said in a brief statement.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)