Sensex extends losses for second day; IT and bank stocks top drags

Equity benchmark Sensex declined around 251 points on Monday, pressured by heavy selling in IT and bank stocks amid a mixed trend overseas.

A weak rupee further weighed on sentiment, traders said.

Sliding for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 250.86 points or 0.41 per cent lower at 60,431.84. During the session, the index touched a high of 60,740.95 and a low of 60,245.05.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 85.60 points or 0.48 per cent to finish at 17,770.90.

SBI was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.83 per cent, followed by Infosys, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Axis Bank.

In contrast, Titan, L&T, NTPC, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, ITC and HDFC twins were among the prominent winners, rising as much as 1.97 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices dropped up to 1.25 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul closed in the red, while Shanghai settled higher.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading with gains in the afternoon session. The US markets had ended in the positive territory on Friday.

The rupee fell by 15 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.34 per cent lower at USD 85.23 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers in the capital markets on Friday, purchasing shares worth a net Rs 1,458.02 crore, according to exchange data.