Sensex Falls Over 100 Points, Nifty Drops Below 11,900

Domestic stock markets gave up early gains in a volatile session on Monday. The S&P BSE Sensex index fell as much as 108.59 points to hit 40,336.56 on the downside, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark declined to as low as 11,888.05, down 33.45 points from the previous close. Losses in financial, consumer goods and energy stocks pulled the markets lower, however gains in automobile shares provided some support. However, the markets recovered most of those losses in the first few minutes of trade.

At 9:36 am, the Sensex traded 27.11 points - or 0.07 per cent - lower at 40,418.04 while the Nifty was down 14.05 points - or 0.12 per cent - at 11,907.45.

Twenty five stocks on the 50-scrip index moved lower. Top percentage losers in the Nifty 50 index at the time were Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Bank, trading between 0.79 per cent and 1.23 per cent lower. 

On the other hand, Zee Entertainment, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco and Tata Motors - up between 1.67 per cent and 2.54 per cent - were the top gainers. 

Kotak Bank, Reliance Industries, TCS and HDFC Bank were the top drags on Sensex.

Equities in other Asian markets edged up on Monday with Japan's benchmark Nikkei rising 0.3 per cent while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gaining 0.3 per cent.

The modest Asian gains compared with Wall Street, which rose to near record highs on Friday on a strong jobs report and some sign of optimism about US-China trade talks, with the benchmark S&P 500 closing within 0.2 per cent of its peak set in late November.

The Sensex had ended 334.44 points - or 0.82 per cent - lower at 40,445.15 on Friday and the Nifty settled at 11,921.50, down 96.90 points - or 0.81 per cent - from the previous close.