New Delhi, India (BBN)-The BSE benchmark Sensex fell over 100 points in the morning deals on Monday on the back of selling in FMCG, metal and banking stocks.
The 50-share Nifty fell below its important psychological level of 8,450 led by losses in blue-chip stocks like ITC, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, reports NDTV.
Other Asian markets were also trading on a weak note after rising inflation and a hawkish tone from the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair rekindled expectations that the Fed is on track to hike interest rates.
Back home, ITC was the ITC was the top Nifty loser. Shares in cigarette maker fell over 3 per cent to Rs 318 after the company reported that its fourth quarter net profit came in at Rs 2,361 crore which was less than analysts expectation of Rs 2,528 crore.
Meanwhile, international brokerage CLSA has maintained its 'sell' rating on the stock. It expects pressure to continue in the first half of calendar year and has cut its EPS estimate by 2-3 per cent.
Tata Steel was also among the losers on the Nifty it fell nearly 2 per cent to Rs 335 after CLSA downgraded the stock to sell post its results.
Vedanta, Asian Paints, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Cipla, Punjab National Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank and HUL were also among the laggards on the Nifty.
The mid-cap and small-cap stocks were mostly trading flat. The BSE mid-cap index was down 0.14 per cent while the small-cap index advanced 0.08 per cent.
At 9:39 am, the Sensex was down 127 points at 27,831 and the Nifty fell 37 points to 8,422.