Sensex, Nifty Tumble On Weak Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Indian shares were sharply lower on Monday, mirroring weak global cues after another Federal Reserve official flagged the likelihood of continued aggressive monetary tightening.

Investors looked ahead to the Fed's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium later this week, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell's key speech might offer additional clues about the pace of future interest-rate hikes.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex plunged 520 points, or 0.9 percent, to 59,124 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 172 points, or 1 percent, at 17,587.

Eicher Motors, Divis Laboratories, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ONGC fell 2-3 percent in the Nifty pack, while FMCG stocks such as Britannia Industries, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were up around 1 percent each on defensive buying.

ACC and Ambuja Cements both fell over 1 percent after the Adani Group got required approval from market regulator SEBI for acquiring a 26 percent stake in Swiss-based firm Holcim's Indian listed subsidiaries.

Central Bank of India jumped 4 percent on reports that it will likely exit the RBI's prompt correction action framework soon.

Paytm rose about 2 percent after it reappointed Vijay Shekhar Sharma as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

AstraZeneca Pharma India gained 1 percent. The drug company has received import and market permission and the new drug approval from the Drugs Controller General of India for Olaparib film-coated tablets.

Tejas Networks added 1.7 percent after it acquired the remaining 93,571 equity shares in Saankhya Labs for Rs.4.25 crore through secondary purchase.

Adani Power rallied 2.6 percent after it agreed to buy the thermal power assets of DB Power Limited (DBPL) for nearly Rs. 7,017 crore enterprise valuation.