Sensex tanks 537 points, Nifty ends at 7,791 as China stocks tumble 7%; Tata Motors top loser

The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 537 points to end below its crucial psychological level of 26,000 in trade on Monday, while broader CNX Nifty also settled below its key support level of 7,800.

Domestic markets slipped tracking weak trend seen in Asian markets after data on Friday showed China's factory activity shrank for a 10th straight month in December. Reacting to the news, China's benchmark CSI300 share index dipped 7 per cent on the first session of 2016 on Monday, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading for the rest of the day.

The 30-share index ended at 25,623.35, down 537.55 points, while broad-based 50-share index quoted 7,791.30, down 171.90 points at close.

Stock of Tata Motors was the worst performer on both the headline indices and sank over 6 per cent on BSE.

Shares of telecom stocks such as Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications fell up to 6 per cent after the Telecom regulator Trai wrote to operators to ensure compliance with call drop regulations, effective January 1, even as service providers remain defiant and say compensation to subscribers will be paid only after court orders them to do so.

China's Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 48.2 in December as compared to 48.6 in November. Any reading below 50-point level signals contraction. Reacting to the news, China's benchmark CSI300 share index dipped 7 per cent, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading for the rest of the day.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed over 3 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei also tumbled over 3 per cent to close near 2-1/2-month lows.

A lowdown on markets today

02:21 pm

Sensex at 25,644.47, down 516.43 points

Nifty at 7,798.90, down 164.30 points

12:44 pm

Sensex at 25,734.37, down 426.53 points

Nifty at 7,827.15, down 136.05 points

11:48 am

Sensex at 25,733.13, down 427.77 points

Nifty at 7,829.40, down 133.80 points

9:20 am

Sensex at 26,008.79, down 152.11 points

Nifty at 7,916.30, down 46.90 points