Equity benchmark indices, which resumed trading after a long holiday, were hit hard on Monday, with the Sensex plunging over 1,186 points in early trade.
The key index was dragged down by heavyweights Infosys and HDFC Bank amid weak trends in Asian markets.
Stock markets were down on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti as well as closed on Friday for Good Friday.
The Sensex was trading 1,186.18 points lower at 57,152.75 in early trade. The Nifty fell 314.95 points to 17,160.70.
From the 30-stock pack, the top laggards in early trade included Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Wipro and HCL Technologies.
On the other hand, winners included NTPC, Tata Steel, M&M, Maruti and Power Grid.
Shares of Infosys fell 8.95% on the BSE to Rs.1,592.05, although the country’s second largest software services company last week reported a 12% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit for the March quarter to ₹5,686 crore.
HDFC Bank declined 3.35% to ₹1,415.75, although the largest domestic private sector lender bank on Saturday reported a 22.8% increase in its standalone net profit to ₹10,055.2 billion for the quarter ended March 2022 recorded.
In Asia, markets traded lower with Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo all lower on mid-session deals.
Stocks in the US closed lower on Thursday.
International oil benchmark Brent rose 1.01% to $112.83 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 237.44 points, or 0.41%, to settle at 58,338.93. The NSE Nifty fell 54.65 points, or 0.31%, to end at 17,475.65.
Overseas institutional investors continued to sell ₹2,061.04 crore of shares, according to stock market data on Wednesday.
