Mumbai (PTI): Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply in early trade on Tuesday in line with weak global cues, continuous foreign fund outflows and selling pressure in IT stocks and Reliance Industries.
Investor sentiment also turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting outcome, which is expected to provide cues on the interest rate trajectory.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged by 636.22 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 84,466.47 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty depreciated by 193.25 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 25,767.30.
Among the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Infosys and UltraTech Cement were the laggards.
Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever were the only gainers in the morning trade.
The US Federal Reserve is set to begin its two-day policy meeting later on Tuesday, where the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will decide on key benchmark interest rates for the world's largest economy.
The outcome will be announced on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 655.59 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 2,542.49 crore, according to exchange data.
"Despite hopes pinned on a potential US Fed cut on December 10, sentiment remains fragile with FIIs continuing to sell, the rupee weakening towards 90/USD, and global cues turning softer," Prashanth Tapse , Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, South Korea's KOSPI and Shanghai's SSE Composite index were trading in the negative territory while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was quoting in the green zone.
The US markets ended lower in overnight deals on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of the Fed meeting.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.21 per cent to USD 62.36 per barrel.
On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged by 609.68 points to close at 85,102.69.
Snapping a two-day gaining streak, the 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 225.90 points to settle at 25,960.55.
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New Delhi (PTI): Sanju Samson bossed the chase with authority, anchoring a modest 156-run target with a fluent 87 not out as Chennai Super Kings outclassed Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the IPL here on Tuesday.
Samson's knock came off just 52 balls with seven fours and six sixes, batting through the innings as CSK completed the chase in just 17.3 overs giving a huge boost to their net run-rate.
Electing to bat on a tricky surface, Delhi Capitals were restricted to 155/7.
West Indies left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein set the tone with the new ball, returning tidy figures of 1/19, including 14 dot balls.
Reduced to 69/5 in 11 overs, Delhi found some late impetus through Tristan Stubbs (38; 31 balls) and Sameer Rizvi (40 not out; 24 balls), who stitched together a crucial 65-run (off 47 balls) stand to give the innings a respectable total.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 155 for 7 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 38, Sameer Rizvi 40 not out; Noor Ahmed 2/22)
Chennai Super Kings 159 for two in 17.3 overs (Sanju Samson 87 not out, Kartik Sharma 41 not out). CSK win by eight wickets.
