The benchmark BSE Sensex fell below its important level of 28,500 in trades on Monday owing to selling in heavyweights like Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.
The 50-share Nifty was also trading with a negative bias.
Selling pressure was visible across the sectors. Metal, oil & gas, power and FMCG stocks were amongst the worst hit in the late morning trades.
The broader markets were underperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices were down 0.2 and 0.5 per cent each respectively.
Shares of Cairn India fell over 4 per cent to hit its fresh 52-week low of Rs 216. Trigger for the latest selloff is a Rs 20,495 crore tax demand slapped in relation to the 2007 listing of the company.
Meanwhile, the shares of airline companies were flying high on reports that the government would abolish 5/20 rule which acts as a deterrent for the private airlines to fly internationally.
From the Nifty basket, Sesa Sterlite, NMDC, NTPC, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Jindal Steel and Hindalco were among the top losers. On the other hand, DLF, Asian Paints, Zee Entertainment, Bharat Petroleum and Bajaj Auto were among the gainers.
At 11:14 a.m., the Sensex was down 49 points at 28,454 and the 50-share Nifty slipped 15 points to 8,633.
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