Sensex Falls Over 200 Points, Nifty Below 15,700 Dragged By Banking Shares

Selling pressure was broad-based as all the 11 sector gauges, barring the measure of FMCG shares, were trading lower.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell on Tuesday dragged by losses in banking and financial services shares amid weak cues from global markets. The Sensex fell as much as 245 points and Nifty 50 index slipped below its important psychological level of 15,700. Asian stocks were down early on Tuesday as growing fears the spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus would harm the global economic recovery sent riskier assets, including oil, skidding sharply. As of 9:22 am, the Sensex was down 228 points at 52,325 and Nifty 50 index fell 61 points to 15,691. Overnight, stocks on Wall Street fell as much as 2 per cent on Monday, with the Dow posting its worst day in nine months, as a rise in worldwide coronavirus cases and increasing US deaths drove investors out of risky assets, crushing bond yields and share prices. Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as all the 11 sector gauges, barring the measure of FMCG shares, were trading lower led by the Nifty Bank index's over 1 per cent decline. Nifty Financial Services, Private Bank and Metal indexes fell between 0.9-1 per cent.