Markets tumble in early trade; Sensex dives over 980 points

Equity benchmark indexes tumbled in early trade on Friday, with the Sensex falling above 980 points and falling below the 55,000 mark, dogging extremely weak global markets.

The 30-part BSE benchmark fell 980.45 points to 54,721.78 in early trade. The NSE Nifty was also down 300.15 points to 16,382.50.

All of the Sensex Pack firms were trading in the red, with Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki India, Wipro, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and Infosys emerging as the biggest laggards in early trade.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Korea traded significantly lower, while Tokyo traded marginally higher.

The US stock exchanges fell sharply in overnight trading on Thursday.

“US markets staged a recovery rally on Wednesday after the FOMC meeting, but collapsed on Thursday on greater concerns about rising interest rates. Asian markets are trading lower in early Friday trade,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities .

On Thursday, the BSE benchmark closed just 33.20 points or 0.06% higher at 55,702.23. Similarly, the NSE Nifty was up 5.05 points, or 0.03%, to 16,682.65.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent rose 0.45% to $111.40 a barrel.

Overseas institutional investors sold £2,074.74 billion worth of shares again on Thursday, according to stock market data.

“While intraday volatility will continue, markets will be eyeing Reliance Industries earnings to be announced later today. Amid most of the negative factors, FII sales have picked up again as foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 2,074.74 crore on Thursday,” said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.