Sensex falls over 250 points, Nifty tests 19,450; Biocon, Glenmark Pharma down up to 4%

Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in Monday's early deals amid sell-off across all sectors. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 286 points or 0.44 per cent to trade at 64,974, while the NSE Nifty was down 74 points or 0.38 per cent to trade at 19,452. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were also weak as Nifty Midcap 100 was down 0.41 per cent and small-cap shed 0.04 per cent.

On the global front, Asian markets opened higher today. Wall Street equities advanced on Friday.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to offload Indian equities in November. FIIs sold shares worth Rs 190 crore on yesterday, extending their selling streak to the 14th session. Foreign outflows from domestic markets hit a nine-month high in the previous month.

In contrast, the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) extended their buying streak for the 18th session in a row, adding Rs 95.31 crore worth of shares on a net basis.

All 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty IT were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.42 per cent, 0.55 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, SBI Life was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 1.34 per cent to trade at Rs 1,340.7. ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India and Grasim Industries fell up to 1.14 per cent.

In contrast, Eicher Motors, NTPC, Coal India, PowerGrid and Hindalco were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was weak as 1,339 shares were advancing while 1,694 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top laggards.

Also, Biocon, Glenmark Pharma, Prestige, Cartrade and PVR Inox tanked up to 4.04 per cent. On the other hand, IFCI, Electrosteel, Dilip Buildcon, BHEL and Infibeam Avenues jumped up to 7.60 per cent.

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