Sensex drops over 200 points; Nifty slips below 10,900

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday dropped over 200 points and NSE Nifty fell below the 10,900 mark on selloff in metal and auto stocks amid weak cues from other Asian markets and foreign fund outflow. The 30-share index was trading 198.83 points, or 0.55 per cent, lower at 36,055.74 in morning trade. Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined by 61.35 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 10,848.75. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex closed at 36,254.57, rising 186.24 points or 0.52 per cent; and the NSE Nifty ended at 10,910.10, gaining 47.55 points or 0.44 per cent.

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India VIX, the volatility index for equities, was up nearly 4 per cent.

The biggest losers in the Sensex pack include M&M, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Vedanta and ONGC, falling up to 2 per cent.

Among gainers were TCS, Infosys, SBI and Yes Bank, rising up to 1 per cent.

Weakness in Asian stocks and selling by foreign institutional investors hit market sentiment Wednesday, traders said.

According to Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, low trading volumes are expected during the week, as worldwide financial markets were closed on New Year day.

Back home, investor is being swayed December Auto sales data released Tuesday, macro data like Nikkei Manufacturing PMI and services PMI due this week and Q3FY19 earnings starting next week, he said.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 48.19 crore Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 142.58 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.40 per cent, Kospi fell 1.02 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.01 per cent in early trade.

Japanese market and Wall Street were closed on Tuesday.

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The rupee opened marginally lower at 69.52 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the benchmark Brent crude futures were trading lower by 1.35 per cent at USD 53.39 per barrel.