Reflecting a very weak trend in Asian markets, equity markets opened lower on Monday, with the Sensex down 785 points in early trade, extending the previous day’s fall.
Besides, foreign fund outflows and selling in majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and TCS added to the weak sentiment.
The BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 785 points lower at 56,412.14. NSE Nifty closed at 16,928.60, down 243.35 points.
Among the 30 Sensex stocks, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra, Titan, TCS, Asian Paints and Infosys were the major laggards in early trade.
Conversely, ICICI Bank and Maruti ended in gains.
On Friday, the Sensex closed 714.53 points or 1.23% lower at 57,197.15 and the Nifty fell 220.65 points or 1.27% to 17,171.95.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai were trading with deep cuts in mid-session deals.
Shares in the US also closed down sharply on Friday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.88% to $103.58 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors continued selling shares worth Rs 2,461.72 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.
Mohit Nigam, PMS Head, Hem Securities, said, “US markets fell by over 2 per cent on Friday, while European markets also declined on Friday. Asian markets are trading in red mark in Monday’s trade.