By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets, which opened with a huge loss Monday, continued their downslide in early trade. Twenty minutes into trading, the Sensex was 466.01 points below its closing figure Friday.
Analysts said the market mayhem was due to international price of crude oil hitting a new high. The effect was felt especially in power, realty and cement stocks, all of which were under severe selling pressure.
The Sensex, the 30-share benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), opened with a loss of 456.21 points at 15,115.97. Twenty minutes into trading, it was at 15,106.17 with a loss of 466.01 percent or 2.99 percent from its previous close.
At the same time the S&P Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 4,481.85 with a loss of 145.95 points compared to its last close.
The market breadth was negative. On BSE, 183 shares advanced, 1,872 declined and 19 remained unchanged.
Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance infrastructure, Tata Motors were among the prominent losers at initial trade.
Other Asian markets were also trading lower.