Sensex falls over 300 pts in early trade; Nifty drops below 11,200

Mumbai, Sep. 22 (PTI): Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 300 points in early trade on Tuesday tracking losses in index-heavyweights Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance and Maruti amid negative cues from global markets and foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 305.12 points or 0.80 per cent lower at 37,729.02; while the NSE Nifty fell 97.10 points or 0.86 per cent to 11,153.45.

Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, M&M and Titan.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and TCS were among the gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 811.68 points or 2.09 per cent lower at 38,034.14, while Nifty tumbled 254.40 points or 2.21 per cent to finish at 11,250.55.

Meanwhile, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 539.81 crore on a net basis on Monday.

According to traders, global market selloff has been triggered by several factors such as reports about likely irregular financial dealings involving some of the major international banks, and the fears of the pandemic rising in a second wave in many parts of Europe.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-day deals.

Stock exchanges in the US ended on a negative note in overnight session.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.27 per cent higher at USD 41.55 per barrel.