Mumbai: Extending their fall, the benchmark BSE Sensex slipped below the 28,000 level and the NSE Nifty dropped below the 28,000 mark at mid-session as funds and retail investors indulged in selling activity amid weak global cues after crude oil dipped to fresh five-year lows.
After opening in negative terrain on continued selling activity by participants, the Sensex dipped below the psychological 28,000-mark to touch a low of 27,869.92. It, however, recovered marginally to 27,911.35, down by 208.05 points or 0.74% at 1330 hours.
Major losers that pulled down the Sensex and Nifty from crucial levels were Sesa Sterlite, Tata Power, NTPC, Hindalco, Bhyarti Airtel, ONGC, Tata Steel, BHEL, SBI, Axis Bank, L&T, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, RIL and Cipla.
The 30-share index had lost 443.42 points in the previous two sessions.
Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty slipped below the crucial 8,400-level by losing 64.00 points, or 0.76%, to 8,374.25. It shuttled between 8,444.50 and 8,362.30.
Sentiments dampened after current account deficit widened to $10.1 billion or 2.1 % of GDP, in July-September quarter of this fiscal, up from 1.2 % a year ago. Brokers said sustained selling by participants in bluechip stocks that recently logged gains and a weak trend in global markets after oil prices skidded to fresh five-year lows led to the fall in markets.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 4,984.60 crore on Monday, according to provisional data from the stock exchange. Bucking the trend, shares of Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy, HDFC Bank, M&M, TCS and Hero MotoCorp were trading in positive zone and cushioned the fall.
Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 2.51%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.68%. European markets were down in their opening trade.