Sensex drops over 100 pts; bank, auto stocks fall

The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday fell over 100 points tracking selloff in banking, auto and metal stocks amid mixed cues from global markets.

The 30-share index was trading 109.53 points, or 0.30 per cent, lower at 36,359.90.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 31.75 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 10,861.90.

On Friday, however, key indices finished with robust gains Friday after the government made a big populist push in its final budget before elections, even as some investors fretted about the fiscal impact of farm sops and tax rebates.

The BSE Sensex had climbed 212.74 points, or 0.59 per cent, to finish at 36,469.43, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 62.70 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 10,893.65.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack include ONGC, RIL, HCL Tech, Vedanta, HUL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS and Infosys, rising up to 2.39 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, PowerGrid and Tata Motors were the top losers, falling up to 3.15 per cent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,315.89 crore Friday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5.07 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.30 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.02 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.53 per cent; while Kospi slipped 0.06 per cent in early trade.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.26 per cent higher on Friday.

The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 37 paise against US dollar to 71.64.

The benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.16 per cent to USD 62.65 per barrel.