Sensex, Nifty slump in early trade amid weak Asian markets, foreign fund outflows

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Tuesday in-tandem with weak Asian markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

Also, investors turned cautious ahead of the US Fed interest rate decision this week.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 420.56 points to 72,327.86 after opening on a weak note. The NSE Nifty declined 126.35 points to 21,929.35.

From the Sensex basket, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and NTPC were the major laggards.

Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were quoting lower.

The Wall Street ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,051.09 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"Markets' attention now shifts to the Fed's meeting outcome on March 20," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.14 per cent to USD 86.77 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 104.99 points, or 0.14 per cent, to settle at 72,748.42 on Monday. The NSE Nifty went up 32.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 22,055.70.