Sensex plunges 245 pts in early trade, Nifty dips below 8,200

The benchmark Sensex tumbled over 245 points and the Nifty went below the 8,200 mark in early trade today on continued selling by funds and retail investors after October industrial production contracted sharply, amid a weak trend in the Asian region.

Falling for the third straight session, the 30-share barometer plunged by 245.64 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 27,105.04 with IT, consumer durables, realty, capital goods, metal and oil & gas stocks leading the fall. Auto, healthcare and power stocks also faced selling pressure.

The BSE index had lost 480.42 points in the previous two sessions. On similar lines, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty dipped below the 8,200-mark by losing 71.60 points, or 0.87 per cent to 8,152.50.

Brokers said selling activity gathered momentum on disappointing economic data as the country's industrial production contracted by 4.2 per cent in October, sharpest decline in at least two years. However, data showing retail inflation eased to a fresh low of 4.38 per cent in November --the fifth straight month of decline -- restricted the fall to some extent.

A weak trend on other Asian bourses as oil prices sank to over five-year lows on concerns about slower global growth also hit sentiments, they said.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.39 per cent and Japan's Nikkei fell 1.31 per cent in early trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 1.79 per cent lower in Friday's trade.