Sensex and Nifty on Monday plummeted in early morning trade, guided by weak global trends as investors panicked over US recession fears. Foreign fund outflows also contributed to the plunge.
The Sensex dipped 2,401.49 points to touch 78,580.46 in early trade while Nifty slumped 489.65 points to 24,228.05.
Tata Motors, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, Maruti and Reliance Industries were the major losers in the Sensex basket while Sun Pharma and Hindustan Unilever were trading in the green.
This comes after US indices closed significantly low on Friday. Asian peers like Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong were also trading in the red with Shanghai as the only major exception.
To add to the woes, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) withdrew Rs 3,310 crore from Indian markets on Friday.
Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also led to the plunge amid fears of Iran retaliation against Israel over killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
