Sensex drops 243.89 pts in late morning deals

The BSE Sensex pared some earlier losses, but was still trading lower by 243.89 points in late morning deals on sustained selling pressure mainly in financials, banks, energy and power sectors amid global financial turmoil after slump in Turkish currency lira.

Selling pressure mounted on select sector stocks after the rupee hit its record low of 69.62 per dollar in early trade as Turkish currency crisis fuelled demand for safe havens.

The 30-share index was trading lower at 37,625.34, showing a loss of 243.89 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 1125 hours.

The broader Nifty-50 index was also trading down at 11,360.30, down 69.20 points, or 0.61 per cent.

Major losers were Vedanta 3.38 per cent, SBI 2.71 per cent, Yes Bank 1.84 per cent, Tata Motors DVR 1.79 per cent and HDFC 1.64 per cent.

Losers include Coal India 1.59 per cent, Sun Pharma 1.45 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.04 per cent and Tata Steel 0.86 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 510.66 crore on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 457.83 crore last Friday, provisional data showed.

Asian shares tumbled after investor sentiment took a hit amid the slump in the Turkish currency, lira, on geopolitical developments.

US stocks dropped, triggered by fears over the sell-off in the lira after US President Donald Trump said he had approved the doubling of metals tariffs against Turkey.