Mumbai, Sep 20: Equity benchmark indices were in the bear grip on Monday with traders booking profit in metal and banking stocks amid nervousness in global markets.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 525 points or 0.89 per cent at 58,491 while the Nifty 50 tumbled by 188 points or 0.07 per cent to 17,397.
Except for Nifty FMCG which moved up by 0.9 per cent, all other sectoral indices were in the red with Nifty metal cracking by 6.6 per cent, PSU bank by 4.2 per cent and realty by 2.1 per cent.
Among stocks, Tata Steel retreated by 10 per cent to Rs 1,247.35 per share while JSW Steel lost by 7.7 per cent and Hindalco by 6.1 per cent.
State Bank of India fell by 3.8 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 3.6 per cent, agro-chemicals manufacturer UPL by 5.3 per cent, Tata Motors by 3.5 per cent and Eicher Motors by 3.2 per cent.
The other prominent losers were HDFC, HDFC Life, Dr Reddy’s, Cipla, Sun Pharma and Power Grid Corporation.
However, Hindustan Unilever gained by 2.8 per cent, ITC and Nestle India by 0.8 per cent, Britannia by 0.4 per cent, HCL Technologies by 0.58 per cent and Reliance Industries by 0.05 per cent.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index tumbling by 3.3 per cent on plunging property stocks.