Sensex slumps 232 points; Nifty cracks below 7,800-mark

Mumbai: Taking a sharp U-turn by giving up all its early gains, the benchmark BSE Sensex plunged over 232 points in mid-session trade Tuesday, tracking a weak opening in the European markets.

The NSE Nifty too came under pressure, which cracked below the psychological 7,800-mark.

The 30-share index, which rose over 268 points in early trade, succumbed to widespread profit-booking to quote 232.75 points or 0.91 percent lower at 25,204.42 at 1345 hrs.

The index had shed 170 points in yesterday's trade on plunge in Tokyo equities and disappointing domestic corporate earnings along with a fall in manufacturing sector activity.

Sectoral indices led by IT, FMCG, technology, oil&gas, PSU, healthcare and banking tumbled up to 1.32 percent, dragging down the key indices.

The NSE Nifty dipped below the 7,800-mark by dropping 70.75 points or 0.90 percent to 7,735.15.

Sentiment turned bearish after European stocks extended their lowest level in three weeks, as investors weighed a slew of earnings reports by lenders, brokers said.

Major losers were Coal India, Lupin, HUL, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, ITC Ltd, Infosys, ONGC, Wipro, NTPC, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank and M&M, falling by up to 2.25 percent.

In Europe, FTSE fell 0.54 percent while France's CAC was down 1 percent.

From Asia, Shanghai Composite index perked up by 1.85 percent.