Sensex tanks nearly 300 points, Nifty slips below 10,300

New Delhi: Indian equity markets traded in the negative territory during the mid-afternoon session on Friday — with the BSE Sensex shedding over 300 points intra-day — on the back of broadly negative Asian markets, along with heavy selling pressure in oil and gas, metals, auto, and banking stocks.

Around 12.30 pm, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 88.45 points or 0.85 percent to trade at 10,271.70 points.

Weakness in Asian markets on continued worries of trade tensions due to fears over US tariffs weighed on market sentiment. Back home, Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) formal exit from the Narendra Modi government also spooked investors.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 33,685.86 points, traded at 33,408.37 points — down 277.17 points or 0.82 percent from the previous session's close.

The Sensex cracked over 300 points to scale a low of 33,366.90 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,412 declines and 1,035 advances.

Major losers were Tata Motors, ONGC, Tata Motors DVR, NTPC and Reliance Industries, falling up to 2 per cent.

Meanwhile, telecom and realty counters witnessed some buying interest. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 705.40 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 256.45 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian markets fell weak volumes on Wall Street gave little impetus for traders overnight, ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

US stocks ended mixed yesterday, as industrial and tech gains were offset by losses in the consumer and energy sector.

"Indian shares opened lower on Friday tracking weak Asian stocks. Top gainers on NSE were Mahindra and Mahindra, Auropharma and Zee, while top losers for the hour were BPCL, Indian Oil Corp and Tata Motors," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

(With agency inputs)