The Sensex on Monday plunged as much as 418.38 points to close at 36,699.84 while Nifty lost 134 points to end at 10,862.60.
Earlier during the day, the Indian benchmark indices sank to five-month lows following selling of shares in Asian markets due to fears of a trade war between the China and the United States, Reuters reported. The market sentiment improved briefly after the Centre introduced bills in Parliament on Jammu and Kashmir, according to PTI.
At 1.50 pm, the BSE Sensex was down 516.79 points at 36,601.43, while the National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 was lower by 159.95 points, at 10,837.40. Both indices were down 1.4%. Earlier in the day, the Sensex had fallen over 700 points to hit a low of 36,416.79.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah moved a resolution in Rajya Sabha on Monday seeking to scrap Article 370 of Constitution that provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Shah also proposed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, according to which Jammu and Kashmir will be a Union Territory with a legislature, while Ladakh will be a Union Territory without a legislature.
Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were the top gainers on the Sensex. The stocks that lost the most were Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Power Grid Corporation, Reliance Industries and State Bank of India.
On the Nifty 50, the top gainers were Bharti Airtel, Coal India, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Auto. The top losers were Yes Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Tata Motors, Hindalco and JSW Steel.
The rupee also made significant losses in early trade, and at 1.50 pm, was down by 84 paise at 70.44 against the United States dollar.
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