Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty slips below 11,000

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex fell over 200 points and the NSE Nifty dropped below the 11,000-level in early trade on Wednesday after the rupee dropped to a new low amid sustained foreign fund outflows and surging crude oil prices.

The BSE 30-share barometer fell 231.08 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 36,295.06 after hitting a low of 36,325.15.

The gauge had gained 299 points on Monday after the RBI announced measures to shore up liquidity. Investors were also cautious ahead of the three-day RBI policy review scheduled to begin Wednesday.

Sectoral indices led by PSU, metal, infrastructure, power, oil and gas, auto, capital goods, realty and consumer durables stocks were trading in the negative terrain, falling by up to 1.43 per cent.

The NSE Nifty fell 93.55 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 10,914.75.

Top laggards include Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paint, TCS, Coal India, HDFC Bank, SBI and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.18 per cent.

However, Yes Bank continued its recovery for the second straight day and rose 7 per cent. ONGC, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, ITC and Sun Pharma were also trading in the green on bargain buying.

Foreign funds sold shares worth a net of Rs 1,842 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,805 crore on Monday, provisional data showed.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil near USD 85 a barrel, the rupee weakening by 43 paise to hit an all-time low of 73.34 against the dollar, and a mixed trend in other Asian markets also influenced trading sentiment here.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.40 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.56 per cent in early deals. Chinese markets were closed for a public holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at record high by rising 0.46 per cent on Tuesday.