Markets tumble amid heavy selling, Sensex falls 396 points

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Tuesday due to heavy selling in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and SBI amid a mixed trend in global markets.

The 30-share index declined by 396.34 points or 0.65 per cent to close at 60,322.37 after a volatile trade. The index hit a high of 60,802.79 points and a low of 60,199.56 in day trade.

The 50-issue Nifty tumbled 110.25 points or 0.61 per cent to end below the 18,000 level at 17,999.20 as 37 of its stocks declined.

Reliance Industries was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 2.51 per cent. Among other losers, SBI sank 2.31 per cent, Ultratech Cement by 2.2 per cent, NTPC by 2.08 per cent and IndusInd by 1.8 per cent.

Pharma major Sun Pharma declined 1.63 per cent while Dr Reddy dropped 1.16 per cent. Private banks ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell 1.14 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki soared over 7 per cent to become lead gainer among both Sensex and Nifty scrips. Mahindra & Mahindra rose by 3.44 per cent on BSE and over 2 per cent on NSE. Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv also advanced.

Sectorally, BSE energy, oil and gas, bankex, realty, healthcare and finance indices fell up to 2.12 per cent, while auto, capital goods, IT, industrials and teck indices ended in green.

Broader midcap index declined 0.22 per cent, while smallcap rose 0.18 per cent.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude

rose 0.72 per cent to $82.64 per barrel.