Post-Budget Market Plunge Continues as Sensex Down by 545 Points, Nifty Tumbles 173 Points

Mumbai: Benchmark indices opened the week sharply lower on Monday, with Sensex falling more than 500 points, tracking weakness across the globe.

The BSE 30-share barometer tanked 545.95 points, or 1.55 percent, to 34,520.80, while Nifty tumbled 173.80 pts to 10,586.80 in opening trade amid global sell-off.

According to market observers, negative global cues, along with heavy selling pressure in banking, capital goods, auto and oil and gas stocks, pulled the equity indices lower. Asian markets dropped over 1 percent following deep losses on Wall Street last week after a strong US jobs report and rising Treasury yields fanned fears of interest rate hike quicker than thought.

The laggards were Yes Bank, HDFC Ltd, SBI, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Hind Unilever, L&T, M&M, Adani Ports, Kotak Bank and RIL, falling by up to 3.89 percent.

The bear run on the market has continued ever since Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the Union Budget 2018-19 on Thursday.

Last Friday, the equity indices had their steepest fall since November 2016 as reintroduction of the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax in the Budget led to a huge sell-off in the markets. The Sensex plunged by 839.91 points or 2.34 percent to close at 35,066.75 points, while the Nifty50 dropped 256.30 points or 2.33 percent to 10,760.60 points.