Sensex falls nearly 150 points, Nifty slips below 10,700

New Delhi: Markets opened largely flat on Monday but slipped into the negative zone minutes after trading.

The BSE Sensex fell 149.31 points or 0.42 percent to 35,659.64 in early trade while the NSE Nifty dropped 42.05 points or 0.39 percent to 10,682.35.

The rupee weakened by 15 paise to trade at 71.38 against the US dollar in early trade Monday amid heavy foreign fund outflows and subdued domestic equity markets.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 966.43 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 853.25 crore Friday, provisional data showed.

Asian share markets bounced broadly on Monday. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent, Japan`s Nikkei climbed 1.8 percent to its highest level of the year so far, while Australia`s main index rose 0.7 percent, a Reuters report said. Shanghai blue chips bounced 1.6 percent.

With Agency Inputs