Sensex ends 378 points down; Nifty below 7,800, Dr Reddy's top loser

Extending losses for the fifth consecutive session, the domestic markets ended sharply lower in trade on Tuesday tracking Asian markets which fell to a one-month low on worries over US Federal Reserve' s first rate hike in December and global growth concerns.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day below its key support level of 26,000 at 25,743.26, down 378.14 points, while broader CNX Nifty settled 131.85 points down at 7,783.35.

Market breadth remained negative with 24 of the 30 stocks Sensex stocks ending the day in red.

Dr Reddy's was the worst performer on Sensex and closed at Rs 3306, down 5.67 per cent on receiving a warning letter from the US drug regulator over quality issues at its two API manufacturing plants and a formulation unit in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Markets had hit a six-week low on Monday after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heavy defeat in Bihar state elections raised concerns that his government will struggle to pass policy reforms.

Trading was also subdued in a holiday-shortened week. Markets will open on Wednesday for a special one-hour trading session on Diwali and close on Thursday.

But InterGlobe Aviation, owner of carrier IndiGo, surged 17.6 per cent from its initial public offering price 765 rupees in its market debut, as investors bet on future profits in one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets.

"The momentum of the market is still weak, there are no major takers. Majority of the frontline companies are trading weak because of weak fundamentals," said Alex Mathews head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas.

Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.35 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading lower by 1.17 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.42 per cent.

Overnight, US stocks ended lower on increased prospect of Fed raising interest rates in December. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 1.0 per cent at 17,730.48 points and the S&P 500 lost 0.98 per cent, to 2,078.58. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.01 per cent to 5,095.30.

Lowdown on markets today

12:55 pm

Sensex at 25,906.50, down 214.90 points

Nifty at 7,835.50, down 79.35 points

11:16 am

Sensex at 25,983.80, down 137.60 points

Nifty at 7,861.85, down 53.35 points

9:23 am

Sensex at 26,034.13, down 87.27 points

Nifty at 7,882.55, down 32.65 points