Markets dive to 2-month low

Mumbai: Market benchmark BSE Sensex on Monday tanked around 306 points to close at over two-month low hit by a carnage in HDFC twins and FMCG stocks amid weak global trends.

The 30-share index on Monday cracked 305.88 points or 0.80 per cent to settle at 38,031.13, a level not seen since May 17. The broader NSE Nifty sank 82.10 points 0.72 per cent to close at over two-month low of 11,337.15.

Since Thursday last, the 50-share index has dropped by 3.03 per cent or 350 points. Unabated foreign fund outflows and a depreciating rupee too weighed on investor sentiment here, traders said.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 950.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 733.92 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed on Friday.

Negative cues from other Asian markets too dampened the sentiment here, traders said.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated 17 paise to 68.97 against the US dollar (intra-day).

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures soared 2.15 per cent to $63.82 per barrel after Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Friday confiscated a British tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz for breaking "international maritime rules".