Sensex falls over 150 points, Nifty below 24,800; HDFC Bank, RIL top drags

The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Monday dragged down by losses in Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank , Axis Bank , NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid amid weak global markets. The Sensex fell as much as 282 points and Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 24,800.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower after worries about a possible US economic downturn slugged Wall Street, while dragging bond yields and commodity prices lower as investors avoided risk assets for safer harbours.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell more than 3 per cent on Monday, with technology stocks among the biggest decliners, tracking big losses among Wall Street peers in the previous session.

The Nikkei dropped 3.02 per cent to 35,292.62, dropping below the psychologically key 36,000 mark for the first time since August 13.

The broader Topix also lost 2.84 per cent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.6 per cent, after losing 2.25 per cent last week.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both a fraction lower, after Friday's slide.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as nine of 13 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index's 1 per cent fall. Nifty oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Media, Financial Services, Auto and Bank indices were also trading lower.

On the other hand, select FMCG, IT, pharma and real estate shares were witnessing buying interest.

Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 0.54 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.9 per cent.

ONGC was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.32 per cent to Rs 301.65 after crude oil prices rose 1.4 per cent to $71.68 in international markets.

Hindalco, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Motors, NTPC, Bharat Petroleum, Coal India, Adani Enterprises and Mahindra & Mahindra also fell between 0.86-1.48 per cent.

On the flipside, HDFC Life, SBI Life, Hindustan Unilever , Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints , Shriram Finance, Britannia Industries and TCS were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was negative as 2,147 shares were declining while 1,038 were advancing on the BSE.