Sensex plummets 372 points as financials, pharma slide

A last hour selling pressure prompted equity benchmark indices to end lower for the ninth consecutive session on Monday after a sharp fall in Asian peers.

The S & P BSE Sensex plummeted 372 points to close at 37,091 while the Nifty 50 tumbled 131 points to 11,148.

Except for IT, all sectoral indices were in the red at the National Stock Exchange. PSU bank was down 5 per cent, pharma 4.4 per cent and media 3.8 per cent.

Sun Pharmaceuticals slid over 9 per cent and wound up the day at Rs 396.85. Cadila, Aurobindo Pharma, Glenmark Pharma and Lupin too were in the red.

Eicher Motors slumped over 8 per cent to close at Rs 18,700 after the company reported weak operational performance during the March quarter of 2018-19.

Jet Airways was down over 8 per cent and closed at Rs 139.45 after reports said Etihad Airways' bid for a minority stake in the grounded airline is non-binding and subject to fulfillment of certain conditions by its lenders.

Zee Entertainment slipped 6.6 per cent, Indiabulls Housing Finance 5.4 per cent and Yes Bank 4.9 per cent.

Those which gained marginally included Titan, HDFC, Bharti Infratel, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Lever.

Meanwhile, Asian shares fell as investors debated whether the United States and China will be able to salvage a trade deal after Washington sharply hiked tariffs on 200 billion dollars worth of Chinese goods.

Beijing vowed to retaliate with countermeasures to protect its national interests. The world's two largest economies appeared at a deadlock over trade negotiations on Sunday.