New Delhi : Markets opened on a negative note ahead of the Union Cabinet meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, amid dim corporate earnings tracking weak global cues.
The BSE Sensex tumbled 635.23 points or 1.71 percent to 36,482.99 in early trade while the NSE Nifty slid below 10,800, falling 198.70 points or 1.81 percent to 10,798.65.
Major losers in the Sensex pack were Yes Bank, Tata Motors, SBI, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Powergrid, ICICI Bank, LT, RIL, Axis Bank, Maruti and ONGC, falling upto 7.87 percent. Bucking the trend, shares of TCS and Infosys were trading in green, rising upto 1.53 percent.Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Union Cabinet meeting, which is likely to discuss the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Asian shares slid to 6-1/2 on fears of escalation in the Sino-US trade war. Japan`s Nikkei shed 2.4 percent to the lowest since early June. Australian shares slipped about 1.4 percent to spend their fourth straight session in the red, and South Korea`s Kospi tumbled 2.2 percent to hit its lowest since December 2016.
MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sank 2.1 percent, a Reuters report said.
In China, the blue-chip index fell 0.8 percent while the troubled Hong Kong market hit a seven-month trough. E-Mini futures for the S&P500 and FTSE futures both down over 1 percent, Reuters added.
Prasanta Patnaik