MUMBAI: Domestic equity benchmarks traded sharply lower on Monday, declining around 2 per cent each amid weak global cues after the US and Iran failed to make progress on peace talks.
Sensex plunged as much as 2.16 per cent or 1, 675 points to 75, 874.85, hitting an intraday low in early trade, while Nifty traded at 23, 555, down around 500 points or 2.05 per cent, amid selling pressure in banking and financial, realty, auto and energy stocks.
Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank were among the top losers. All sectoral indices traded in the red.
Category-wise, small-cap indices dropped the most, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 trading 2 per cent lower and the Nifty Smallcap 250 down 2 per cent, following declines in midcap and large-cap scrips.
Moreover, the India VIX, the volatility index, was trading more than 13 per cent higher.
Analysts said global sentiment has turned sharply risk-averse, following renewed escalation in geopolitical tensions.