New Delhi: Markets opened flat on Monday but slipped into red in early trade with both indices falling over 40 percent despite positive global cues.
The BSE Sensex fell 159.32 points or 0.40 percent to 39,292.75 in early trade while the NSE Nifty dropped 55.65 points or 0.47 percent to 11,767.65.
Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Vedanta, Tata Steel, RIL, Coal India, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors and Kotak Bank, shedding up to 2 percent. On the other hand, Yes Bank, Infosys, PowerGrid, NTPC and TCS rose up to 1 percent.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold equity worth Rs 238.64 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 376.47 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
In the previous session on Friday, the 30-share index had settled 289.29 points, or 0.73 percent, lower at 39,452.07, and the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 90.75 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 11,823.30.
MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan on Monday edged up 0.1%, after opening slightly weaker. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng Index jumped as much as 1.4%. Mainland Chinese shares also firmed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite up 0.2% and the blue-chip CSI 300 rising 0.2%, a Reuters report said.
