MARKET LIVE: Sensex sinks 700pts, Nifty nears 16,900; ITC, Tata Steel crack

Stock market live updates: The key benchmark indices started Monday's session with deep cuts on downbeat global sentiment and selling in IT and FMCG majors. High commodity prices, fears of tighter policy regime and rising Covid cases were some of the factors weighing on the investor sentiment. 

The BSE Sensex dropped to a low of 56,412, and was down around 600 points. The NSE Nifty50 tanked below the 17,000-mark, and was down 1.4 per cent.

Tata Steel was the major loser among the Sensex 30 shares, down 3.5 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Dr.Reddy's, ITC, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro and Sun Pharma were the other prominent losers. 

ICICI Bank, however, was up 1.5 per cent on the back of robust Q4 performance. Axis Bank and Maruti were the only other gainers among the Sensex 30 shares.

The broader markets were seen trading with steeper losses. The BSE MidCap index plunged 2 per cent, and the SmallCap index dropped 1.7 per cent. The overall breadth too was extremely bearish, with 2,440 declining stocks versus 956 advancing shares on the BSE.

Sectorally, the BSE Metal and Realty slumped 3.5 per cent each. The Telecom index tumbled 2.8 per cent. The Energy, FMCG, IT, Capital Goods and Power indices too were down around 2 per cent each.