Sensex cracks over 550 pts; Nifty drops below 10,600

The benchmark BSE Sensex cracked over 550 points on Monday as investors turned jittery over exit poll results ahead of the outcome of state elections, weakening rupee and crude oil price rise amid an escalation in US-China trade tensions.

The 30-share index plummeted 551.74 points, or 1.55 per cent, to 35,121.51 in the opening session. All stocks in the index were trading in the red.

In similar movement, the NSE Nifty slumped 172.95 points, or 1.62 per cent, to 10,520.75.

The Sensex had rallied 361.12 points, or 1.02 per cent, to close at 35,673.25 Friday, and the broader Nifty had jumped 92.55 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 10,693.70 in the previous session.

The carnage on Dalal Street was led by metal, realty, banking and auto stocks.

Top losers include Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, PowerGrid, Coal India, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, ONGC, Vedanta, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank, falling up to 4 per cent.

Opec meet and the arrest of Global CFO of Huawei has unnerved global investors. To add more to it, domestic state election results may just be the fuel for a short-term volatility, market experts said.

The exit polls Friday predicted a tight finish between the BJP and the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and a win for the opposition party in Rajasthan.

Global crude oil prices rose after Opec members and 10 other oil producing nations agreed Friday to cut output by 1.2 million barrels a day in a bid to boost prices.

Energy ministers reached the deal, which takes effect from January 1 but has already sent prices surging on oil markets, after two days of talks at Opec headquarters in Vienna.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading 0.68 per cent up at USD 62.09 per barrel. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 59 paise to 71.40 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange amid strengthening of the US dollar against some currencies overseas.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 817.40 crore Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 242.56 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was fell 1.41 per cent, Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.18 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.84 per cent in early trade.

On Wall Street, The Dow Jones Industrial Average index cracked 558.72 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 24,388.95 on Friday.