Sensex fall over 250 points in early trade

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty50 turned cautious today as investors await key macroeconomic data due later in the day, amid a weak trend in other Asian markets.

Also, sustained capital outflows and weakening rupee against the US dollar weighed on sentiments.The 30-share index slumped 258.09 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 34,088.30. It had lost nearly 100 points in the previous session. All sectoral indices were trading in the negative territory led by fall in metals, PSU and banking stocks.

The broader Nifty50 slipped below the 10,500-mark to 10,466.95, down 87.35 points, or 0.82 per cent.

Unwinding of positions in blue-chip stocks by investors ahead of index of industrial production (IIP) numbers for February and December quarter GDP growth numbers, to be released after market hours today, weighed on stocks, brokers said.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks fell across the board following a sharp pullback in US equities after US Fed chair Jerome Powell revived



worries about a sharp increase in interest rates. A weaker-than-expected economic data from China and Japan also dampened market sentiment.

Major losers were ICICI Bank, SBI, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, M&M, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki and L&T.

Shares of Punjab National Bank slumped over 6 per cent and fell to a 20-month low.

Gitanjali Gems hit its lower circuit after falling nearly 5 per cent to Rs 21.35.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 906.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,046.67 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.43 per cent, China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.13 per cent while Japan's Nikkei drifted lower by 0.36 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.16 per cent lower yesterday.