Sensex falls by 268 points; Nifty at 10,000

Equity benchmark indices were in the red during early hours on Thursday on the back of mixed global cues and selling pressure across various segments.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 268 points at 36,295 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 77 points to 10,764.

At the National Stock Exchange, all sectoral indices except for Nifty FMCG were in the negative zone. Nifty PSU bank slipped by 1.7 per cent while the private bank was down by 1.2 per cent, metal by 1.4 per cent and pharma by 1.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Yes Bank lost by 5.4 per cent to Rs 60.60 per share while ICICI Bank was down by 2.7 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 2.5 per cent and State Bank of India by 1.8 per cent.

Tata Steel and JSW Steel were down by 2.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.

However, those which showed some gains were FMCG majors Britannia and Hindustan Lever, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Asian Paints.

Meanwhile, Asian shares turned lower after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points. It was the second Fed rate cut this year.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell by 0.36 per cent. Hong Kong shares shed by 0.96 per cent but Japan's Nikkei rose by 1.01 per cent.

Central banks around the world have been loosening policy to counter the risks of low inflation and recession. Easier monetary policy generally supports equities.