Sensex tumbles nearly 250 points; Nifty ends below 11,900

Mumbai: Market benchmark BSE Sensex declined over 247 points on Tuesday to close at 40,239 as heavy selling emerged mainly in power, oil & gas and IT stocks amid a strengthening rupee.

The 30-share gauge opened strong at 40,588.81, but soon lost momentum to slip into the negative territory. It finally closed 247.55 points or 0.61 per cent lower at 40,239.88.

On similar lines, the 50-scrip NSE Nifty fell 80.70 points or 0.68 per cent to finish at 11,856.80.

Yes Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack with 10.05 per cent decline, followed by PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, ITC, TCS, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and HCL Tech, which lost up to 2.66 per cent.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, HUL, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Bajaj Auto gained up to 1.06 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 11 paise to trade at 70.93 against the US dollar (intra-day).

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.33 per cent to USD 64.04 per barrel.

In other Asian markets, Hong Kong dropped 0.2 per cent and Tokyo ended 0.1 per cent lower. Singapore and Jakarta also closed in the red. However, Shanghai gained 0.1 per cent.

London's FTSE 100, Paris' CAC 40 and Frankfurt's DAX were trading weak in opening deals.