Sensex Down Over 250 Points, Rate Sensitive Stocks Fall

11:20 a.m.: Mid-caps and small-cap stocks also facing the heat of selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap index down 0.3 per cent and the small-cap index slips 0.5 per cent

11:13 a.m.: Lupin, Zee Entertainment, Bharti AIrtel, Idea Cellular and TCS among the top gainers on the Nifty

11:09 a.m.: Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, ITC, IndusInd Bank, Bank of Baroda, Tata Power and Asian Paints among the top Nifty losers, down 1.5-2.4 per cent.

11:04 a.m.: Rate sensitive stocks fall after the Reserve Bank of India cuts interest rates by 0.25 per cent. Banking, realty, auto and capital goods stocks among the worst hit in trades so far.

11:02 a.m.: Reserve Bank of India cuts key interest rates by 0.25 per cent.

11:00 a.m.: Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan cuts interest rates by 0.25 per cent; Sensex falls 259 points to 27,589, Nifty down 82 points at 8,351.

10:59 a.m.: Rate sensitive stocks trade with a negative bias ahead of policy.

10:55 a.m.: Sensex down 192 points at 27,656, Nifty falls 59 points at 8,374 ahead of Reserve Bank of India's policy review.

10:50 a.m.: Hero MotoCorp top Nifty loser; stock falls 2.6 per cent to Rs 2,640 after India's largest maker of motorcycles and scooters, on Monday said its sales for the month of May fell 5.4 per cent from a year earlier. (Read full story)

10:40 a.m.: Sensex continues to trade lower, down 186 points at 27,662 and Nifty trades below 8,400, down 56 points

10:20 a.m.: ITC shares fall 2.2 per cent after Maharashtra government bans sale of lose cigarettes. (Read full story)

9:50 a.m.: Sensex comes off intraday lows, down 127 points at 27,721, Nifty down 40 points at 8,393.

9:40 a.m.: Sensex fell over 200 points in the morning deals on Tuesday ahead of Reserve Bank of India's bi-monthly monetary policy review.

The 50-share Nifty slipped below its important psychological level of 8,400 led by losses in Hero MotoCorp, ITC, HDFC and Reliance Industries.

The Reserve Bank of India is set to cut interest rates on Tuesday for the third time this year as inflation has eased enough to allow the central bank to provide more help for an economy seen struggling with patchy economic growth.

A Reuters poll showed 35 of 48 economists expected the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan to cut the repo lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 7.25 per cent after lowering it by the same amount in January and again in March. Three expected a 50 basis point cut.

A rate cut would need to be accompanied by steps to boost liquidity, according to bankers who say tight cash conditions are preventing them from lowering lending rates.

Meanwhile, selling pressure was visible across the sectors. Rate sensitive stocks such as auto, capital goods, banking and realty stocks were trading with a negative bias.

From the Nifty-50 basket of stocks, 42 stocks were declining while 8 were advancing.

Hero MotoCorp was the top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.4 per cent to Rs 2,645 after India's largest maker of motorcycles and scooters, on Monday said its sales for the month of May fell 5.4 per cent from a year earlier.

Bank of Baroda, ITC, Wipro, Asian Paints, HDFC, Coal India, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, reliance Industries, Punjab National Bank  and Larsen & Toubro were also among the laggards.

The broader markets were also witnessing selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.2 per cent and the small-cap index was down 0.4 per cent.

At 9:38 a.m., the Sensex was down 154 points at 27,695 and the Nifty fell 47 points to 8,386.

(With inputs from Reuters)