A selloff across sectors - led by financial, auto and metal stocks - pulled the markets lower
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At 9:38 am, the Sensex traded 1,535.16 points - or 4.55 per cent - lower at 32,182.46 while the Nifty was down 438.30 points - or 4.45 per cent - at 9,421.60.
In the 50-scrip Nifty basket, 48 shares traded lower at the time. Top percentage losers were Vedanta, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, JSW Steel and Bajaj Finance, trading between 7.69 per cent and 8.99 per cent lower.
Market breadth was extremely negative with an advance-decline ratio of 4:1, as 308 stocks traded higher on the BSE against 1,209 that moved lower.
Reliance Industries shares fell more than 3 per cent to Rs 1,419.75 apiece on the BSE, after the operator of the world's biggest refining complex reported a 39 per cent drop in its March quarter profit to Rs 6,348 crore - its steepest fall since December 2008 - on a sharp fall in oil prices and lower fuel demand, missing analysts' estimate. On Monday, Reliance Industries said private equity firm Silver Lake will invest Rs 5,656 crore in its digital arm, Jio Platforms, days after securing a $5.7 billion investment from Facebook as the conglomerate looks to pare debt.
Analysts say weakness in global markets along with weak earnings back home hurt investor sentiment.
"Hindustan Unilever Limited reported de-growth in volumes. Auto companies are reporting zero sales, also global sentiment is negative," said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets.
HUL shares fell more than 5 per cent to Rs 2,075.40 apiece on the BSE, as against their previous close of Rs 2,195.70. On Thursday, the fast-moving consumer goods major reported a 3.5 per cent fall in net profit to Rs 1,515 crore for the quarter ended March 31.
The benchmark indices tracked losses in global markets, where equities fell amid a spat between the US and China over the origin of the outbreak. While Japanese and Chinese markets remained shut for a holday on Monday, South Korea's KOSPI fell, Hong Kong's Hang Seng returned from a two-session holiday with a 3.5 per cent drop, but Australia's ASX 200 eked out a 0.5 per cent gain.
US stock futures fell 1.7 per cent, indicating a weak start for Wall Street on Monday. US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added to worries with fresh efforts to pin blame for the pandemic on China, where the new coronavirus outbreak is believed to have originated. The latest salvo came from Mr Pompeo on Sunday who said there was "a significant amount of evidence" that the virus emerged from a laboratory in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Crude oil prices crashed amid fresh concerns about oversupply. Brent futures - the global benchmakr for crude oil - were last seen trading 2.4 per cent lower at $25.82. West Texas Intermediate (ETI) futures - the benchmark for US oil prices - tumbled 7 per cent, and were last seen at $18.38 per barrel.
