Sensex tumbles over 100 points in early trade; Nifty drops below 17,900

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 100 points in early trade on Monday tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank and HDFC amid a largely negative trend in Asian markets.

After opening on a positive note, the 30-share index turned negative to trade 130.18 points or 0.22 per cent lower at 59,937.44 in initial deals.

Similarly, the Nifty fell 25.80 points or 0.14 per cent to 17,891.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking around 9 per cent, after the lender admitted to have disbursed 84,000 loans without customer consent in May owing to a "technical glitch".

Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, M&M, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were also among the laggards.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Titan, UltraTech Cement and L&T were the gainers.

In the previous session on Thursday, special Muhurat trading was conducted to mark the beginning of Hindu Samvat year 2078.

Sensex climbed 295.70 points or 0.49 per cent to close at 60,067.62, and Nifty advanced 87.60 points, or 0.49 per cent, to finish at 17,916.80.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 328.11 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.

The BSE and NSE remained closed on Friday (November 5) for 'Diwali Balipratipada'.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was positive.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.04 per cent to USD 83.59 per barrel.