Sensex gets a scare on global headwinds, dives over 400 points; Nifty dips below 9,900-mark

New Delhi: Stocks were a bundle of nerves on Monday as the Sensex plunged by over 400 points in the afternoon trade.

Sensex plunged 406.10 points or 1.27 percent to 31,516.34. The benchmark equity index was dragged by banks, metals, auto and pharma stocks. The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 130.55 points or 1.31 percent to 9,833.85. Stock analysts fear that the likely fiscal stimulus to revive laggard economy may lead to increase in the fiscal deficit.

All sectoral indices were in the red, dragged down by capital goods, metal, consumer durables and healthcare, falling by up to 2.03 per cent.

Traders said that apart from continuous foreign funds outflows, selling by retail investors amid lingering North Korea tensions led to a further drop in the Sensex.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,241.73 crore on Friday, showed provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Major losers pulling down the key indices were Adani Ports, Lupin, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, SBI, L&T, Kotak Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India and ONGC, declining up to 3.14 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.04 per cent down on Friday. 

With PTI inputs