Sensex tanks 942 pts to settle at 3-month low, Nifty plunges below 24K

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex tanked nearly 942 points to settle at a three-month low while Nifty tumbled more than 1 per cent to close below 24,000 on Monday dragged down by heavy selling in Reliance Industries and banking shares.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 941.88 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 78,782.24, the lowest closing level since August 6. During the day, it slumped 1,491.52 points or 1.87 per cent to 78,232.60.

The NSE Nifty tanked 309 points or 1.27 per cent to 23,995.35.

Uncertainty ahead of US presidential elections on November 5 and expectations of a fresh stimulus package by China to prop up growth triggered selling in Indian stocks, analysts said. Relentless selling by foreign investors also dampened the sentiments in the equity market.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and Titan were among the major laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies, Infosys and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 211.93 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around $11.2 billion) from the Indian stock market in October, making it the worst-ever month in terms of outflows, triggered by the elevated valuation of domestic equities and attractive valuations of Chinese stocks.

A committee of China's National People's Congress is meeting this week triggering speculation that the government may endorse major spending initiatives to boost the economy.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled higher. European markets were trading mostly higher. The US markets ended in positive territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 2.57 per cent to $74.98 a barrel.

Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE conducted a one-hour special 'Muhurat Trading' session on the occasion of Diwali on November 1, marking the start of the new Samvat 2081.

The BSE benchmark climbed 335.06 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 79,724.12 in the special Muhurat trading session on Friday. The Nifty advanced 99 points or 0.41 per cent to 24,304.35.