Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty at 10,700

New Delhi: Markets opened on higher note on Monday, however, they turned into red within minutes with the Sensex slipping over 200 points and the Nifty touching 10,700 mark.

Major losers that led the crash were ICICI Bank, YES Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Axiz Bank, and HeroMotoCorp, falling up to 2.88 percent. Major gainers included L&T, TCS, Kotak Bank, Asian Paint, IndusInd Bank and HUL.

Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 689.28 crore, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of Rs 147.35 crore Friday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Heavy selling of some of the stocks during the final hour of trade on Friday had dragged the Sensex and Nifty down. The Sensex was down by 169.56 points or 0.47 per cent at the Friday`s closing. In the day`s trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 36,474.48 and a low of 35,953.15. The Nifty, too was down by 69.25 points or 0.64 per cent.

Asian stocks advanced on Monday as Wall Street rallied after a deal was announced to reopen the U.S. government following a prolonged shutdown that had shaken investor sentiment, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.2 percent. South Korea`s KOSPI edged up 0.2 percent, New Zealand stocks were up a touch, while Japan`s Nikkei bucked the trends and eased 0.2 percent. Australian financial markets were shut for their `Australia Day` holiday.

With Agency Inputs