Sensex tanks 425 points in early trade; Markets falter for sixth day

MUMBAI:  Equity indices opened the trade on a muted note on June 17, with the Sensex tanking 425 points in early trade, in line with weak global markets and concerns over unabated foreign capital outflows.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark was trading 425. 11 points lower at 51,070.68. The Nifty dipped 125.7 points to 15,234.90.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Wipro, Dr Reddy's, Titan, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Maruti were the biggest laggards.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries and NTPC were the gainers.

In Asia, markets in Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower, while Hong Kong quoted higher. Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on June 16.

The BSE benchmark plummeted to 1,045. 60 points or 1.99 per cent to settle at 51,495. 79 on Thursday. Along similar lines, the NSE Nifty plunged 331.55 points or 2.11 per cent to close at 15,360.60.

"The dominant theme impacting equity markets globally is the synchronised global monetary tightening and the consequent fears of economic slowdown," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.68 per cent to USD 118.98 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,257.65 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.