Relentless selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) is also keeping markets under pressure domestically, analysts said. The FIIs sold shares worth Rs 2,530 crore on Friday
The Indian equity benchmarks extended losses on Monday on the back of negative global cues as escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia kept investors on tenterhooks worldwide. The Sensex fell as much as 638 points and Nifty 50 index slipped below its important psychological level of 17,100. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.55 per cent, Singapore Straits Times declined 0.05 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.53 per cent.
Joint military exercise by Russia and Belarus defence forces over the weekend flared up speculations that Russia could invade Ukraine sooner than anticipated. However, the situation calmed a bit after US President Joe Biden agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as long as that country holds off on what U.S. officials believe is an imminent assault on Ukraine.
The Sensex fell 623 points to 57,210 and Nifty 50 index declined 189 points to 17,087 by 9:41 am.
Relentless selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) is also keeping markets under pressure domestically, analysts said. The FIIs sold shares worth Rs 2,530 crore while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,929 crore on Friday. The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth Rs 15,342 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.
Meanwhile, selling pressure was broad-based as all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Realty index's 2 per cent decline. Nifty Media, Bank, Metal, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas, PSU Bank, FMCG and Financial Services indices also fell between 1-2 per cent.
Selling pressure was visible in broader markets as well. Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 1.41 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 2.3 per cent.
HDFC Life was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2 per cent to Rs 578. Titan, UPL, Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco, Larsen & Toubro, Bharat Petroleum, Tata Consumer Products, State Bank of India, Adani Ports, Ultratech Cement and Divi's Labs also fell between 1.4-2 per cent.
On the flipside, NTPC, Power Grid, Dr Reddy's Labs and Tata Consultancy Services were among the notable gainers.
The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,445 shares were declining while 495 were advancing on the BSE.