Sensex slumps 628 points; HDFC Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finance slump

The Indian equities markets key indices slumped on Monday extending losses to the third straight day with benchmark Sensex losing 628 points due to heavy selling pressure in pharma, infra, IT, and banking &financial stocks. The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 58,016.65 points at 11.41 am, which is 628.17 points or 1.07 per cent lower from its previous session's close at 58,644.82 points.

Earlier, the Sensex opened in the red at 58,549.67 points and slumped to a low of 57,953.89 points in the morning trade. This is the third consecutive session of loss in the benchmark Sensex. The index had lost 143.20 points and 770.31 points in the previous two sessions, respectively.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was also trading in the red for the third consecutive session. The Nifty was trading 201.55 points or 1.15 per cent down at 17,314.75 points at 11.48 am. There was heavy selling pressure in banking and financial stocks. Bajaj Finance slumped 2.66 per cent to Rs 6965.25. Bajaj Finserv dipped 2.36 per cent to Rs 15818.90. HDFC Bank slumped 2.43 per cent to Rs 1487.20. HDFC was trading 1.89 per cent down at Rs 2455.45, while ICICI Bank was down 1.76 per cent to Rs 790.80.

L&T slumped 2.67 per cent to Rs 1896. Dr Reddy's Laboratories 1.98 per cent down at Rs 4264; Infosys 1.82 per cent down at Rs 1709.35; Titan 1.73 per cent down at Rs 2427.90; Kotak Bank 1.71 per cent down at Rs 1851.80 and IndusInd Bank 1.67 per cent down at Rs 939.90 were among the major Sensex losers. Tata Steel surged 2.44 per cent to Rs 1204.90. State Bank of India soared 2.60 per cent to Rs 544 after announcing robust Q3 earnings. Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Tech Mahindra and Reliance Industries were also trading in positive.