By IANS
Mumbai : The Indian equities market Monday opened positive but soon slipped into the red in volatile early trade. Heavy selling was witnessed in banking and metals scrips in initial trade.
The 30-share benchmark sensitive index of Bombay Stock Exchange opened with a gain of 174.74 points at 17,523.81.
With 20 minutes into the trade the Sensex was trading at 17,293.92 points with a loss of nearly 55 points compared to its previous close.
At the same time the S&P Nifty of National Stock Exchange was down 6.55 percent at 5,104.20 from its previous close.
The market breadth was negative with low volumes. In the initial trade, 727 scrips advanced, 948 declined and 38 remained unchanged.
Reliance Power rose 3.39 percent to Rs.430.55. It announced that its board approved a proposal for issuing free bonus shares to all categories of shareholders, excluding the promoter group (comprising of Reliance Energy. and the ADA Group), in the ratio of 3 shares for every 5 shares held.
SKF India, Asian paints, HMT Ltd and HCL technologies were among the gainers at the initial trade. HDFC bank, Hexaware Ltd. and ICICI Bank were among the top laggards on the indices.