Sensex drops 294 points, Nifty below 9,900

The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped further by 294 points while the Nifty fell below the 9,900 level due to a flurry of selling triggered by escalated geopolitical tensions following North Korea's testing of hydrogen bomb.
Heavy capital outflows by foreign investors dampened the trading sentiments, brokers said.
The Sensex dropped by 293.68 points, or 0.92 per cent at 31,598.55 at 1215 hours as losses in Adani Ports, Infosys, L&T and HDFC Bank widened.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also dropped by 101.45 points, or 1.01 per cent, to fall below 9,900-level at 9,872.95.
Adani Ports fell 3.12 per cent, Infosys by 2.18 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.95 per cent, Hero MotoCorp by 1.64 per cent and Dr Reddy's by 1.55 per cent. Asian Paint dropped 1.53 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 1.51 per cent and L&T 1.40 per cent.

Overseas, most of Asian markets suffered heavy to moderatre losses, with Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declining 0.93 per cent each, while Singapore fell 0.95 per cent.

Investors tuned to safe-haven investments like gold, silver, Treasury futures and Japanese yen amid growing global tensions.
-- Rupee reverses early gains, drops to 64.18 vs USD --
The rupee pared its early gains to decline by 16 paise against the US dollar in afternoon trade on foreign capital outflows.
The domestic currency fell to a low of 64.18 a dollar in afternoon trade against last close of 64.02 a dollar.

The rupee had gained 7 paise in early trade and touched a high of 63.92 per dollar.