Sensex cracks over 368 points

Banking, auto stocks drag

The benchmark BSE Sensex on Monday plunged over 368 points to close at 35,656.70 due to across-the-board selling on the bourse as market sentiment turned volatile days ahead of the Union Budget, which is widely believed to have some populist announcements.

Heavy selling pressure emerged in banking, auto and consumer durable stocks.

Also, the NSE Nifty tumbled 119 points to end at 10,661.55 amid weak global cues.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 36,124.26 and low of 35,565.15. It finished 368.84 points, or 1.02 per cent, down at 35,656.70.

While the broader NSE Nifty touched a high of 10,804.45 during the day and fell to a low of 10,630.95. It finally ended 119, or 1.10 per cent, down at 10,661.55.

Among the Sensex pack, Yes Bank tumbled 5.46 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance 5.40, ICICI Bank 3.82 per cent, IndusInd Bank 3.10 per cent and HeromotoCorp 2.55 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.02 per cent, Korea Kospi fell 0.02 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 0.60 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.18 per cent.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.29 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 was down 0.36 per cent in late morning deals. While London's FTSE gained 0.04 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee was trading higher by 9 paise to 71.08 against the US dollar.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower at USD 60.48 per barrel, down by 1.88 per cent.