Sensex drops nearly 550 points, Nifty slips below 11,000

New Delhi: The BSE Sensex extended losses in afternoon trade, plunging over 450 points while Nifty slipped below 11,000-level.

Markets plunged on sustained bouts of selling in realty, auto, banks, finance, telecom, industrials and healthcare stocks amid rising crude prices and weak Asian cues.

The 30-share index was trading lower at 36,296.23, down 545.37 points, or 1.48 percent at 12.40 pm. The broader Nifty 50 index was trading at 10,973.65, down 169.45 points, or 1.52 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 760.70 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also bought equities to the tune of Rs 497.03 crore last Friday, provisional data showed.