Sensex sinks 872 points; Nifty slips below 17,500 points on weak global cues

Mumbai: The Indian stock market`s key indices, Sensex and Nifty, tumbled by around 1.5 per cent on Monday dragged by heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks amid weak global cues.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 872.28 points or 1.46 per cent to 58,773.87 points against its previous session`s close at 59,646.15 points.Earlier, the Sensex started the day deep in the red at 59,361.08 points and slumped to a low of 58,705.11 points in the intra-day. The Sensex touched a high of 59,402.50 points in the intra-day. This is the second consecutive session of the slump in the key indices. The Sensex had lost 651.85 points or 1.08 per cent on Friday, the previous trading session.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange slumped 267.75 points or 1.51 per cent to 17,490.70 points against its previous session`s close at 17,758.45 points.The Nifty 50 had slumped by 198.05 points or 1.10 per cent on Friday.

Tata Steel tumbled 4.50 per cent to Rs 105.05. Asian Paints dipped 3.51 per cent to Rs 3360. Wipro slipped 2.96 per cent to Rs 420. Sun Pharma slumped 2.90 per cent to Rs 874.15. L&T dipped 2.87 per cent to Rs 1880.25.There was heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks. Bajaj Finance slumped 2.71 per cent to Rs 7,103.20. Bajaj Finserv dipped 2.58 per cent to Rs 15,872.65.

Kotak Bank dipped 2.30 per cent to Rs 1,834.25. Axis Bank slumped 2.27 per cent to Rs 741.70.State Bank of India slumped 1.77 per cent to Rs 511.20.The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited closed 0.26 per cent down at Rs 2,606.70.UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and Infosys were among the major Sensex losers.

Selling pressure was across the board. Only two of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex closed in the positive. ITC rose 0.64 per cent to Rs 314.20. Nestle India rose 0.28 per cent to Rs 19,492.50.Out of 50 stocks that are part of the Nifty 50, only 5 closed in the positive.