FIRST TRADE: Sensex tumbles 996 pts; Nifty falls below 25,600

FIRST TRADE: Tracking mixed Asian markets, Indian equities opened lower. At the start, Sensex was down 1.18 per cent or 995.92 to 83,270.37, while the 50-share Nifty50 index was down 0.9 percent or 231.65 to 25,565.25.

The advance-decline ratio stood at 4 stocks in the green while the remaining 46 stocks were in the red. From the Nifty pack, top gainers included stocks like JSW Steel, ONGC, Tata Steel and Hindalco. Losers, however, from the pack were Bajaj Auto,  M&M, Asian Paints, BPCL and Tata Motors.

Sectorally, there was across the board sell-off, with auto index down over 2 per cent, followed by the Realty pack. Meanwhile, Bank Nifty was also down over 1 per cent at the last count.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "The hallmark of a bull market is its ability to climb all walls of worries. This bull market is doing exactly that. The market is ignoring even the worsening situation in the Middle East. The steady US market yesterday signals the market’s belief that the conflict between Israel and Iran is unlikely to impact economies and corporate earnings. 

Sectorally, auto pack wil continue to see action after its September sales. Meanwhile, ITC stock may also gain as HSBC maintained its buy call on the brokerage.

Meanwhile, Asian markets traded mixed with Japan's Nikkei up over 2 per cent, while the Hang Seng index plunged over 4 per cent. The MSCI Asia ex Japan has also been extending its losses and last was down 1.75 per cent.

The drag in the Hang Seng index snapped six days rally as stimulus-led gains in China showed exhaustion.