Bearish markets pull Sensex down 525 pts, Nifty below 17.4K

Mumbai: The Sensex plunged 525 points while the Nifty finished below the 17,400-mark on Monday, reflecting the sombre mood in global markets ahead of a flurry of central bank meetings which are expected to provide cues on the imminent tapering of massive stimulus measures.

Sliding for the second consecutive session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 524.96 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 58,490.93.

The broader NSE Nifty tumbled 188.25 points or 1.07 per cent to close close at 17,396.90.

Tata Steel was the top loser on the Sensex chart, crashing 9.53 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Dr Reddy's, M&M and UltraTech Cement.

The HDFC twins and Tata Steel accounted for over half of the benchmark's losses.

In contrast, HUL, Bajaj Finserv, ITC, HCL Tech, Nestle India, Bajaj Finance and RIL managed to close in the green, climbing up to 2.84 per cent.

Investors lost over Rs 3.49 lakh crore in Monday's session, with the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies standing at Rs 2,55,47,063.52 crore at close of trade.

Sectorally, BSE metal, basic materials, realty, power and utilities indices tanked up to 7.19 per cent, while FMCG closed with gains.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices plunged as much as 1.84 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng ended over 3 per cent lower, dragged by Evergrande which plummeted to more than 10-year lows. Bourses in China, Japan and South Korea were closed for holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with steep losses in mid-session deals.

All eyes are on the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting beginning Tuesday. A total of 16 central banks are slated to hold meetings this week, including those in the UK and Japan.