The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 2,401.49 points to 78,580.46 in early trade

New Delhi: Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Monday in-line with extremely weak trends in global markets amid fears of a slowdown in the US economy and foreign fund outflows.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 2,401.49 points to 78,580.46 in early trade. The NSE Nifty tumbled 489.65 points to 24,228.05.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, Maruti and Reliance Industries were the biggest laggards.

"The rally in the global stock markets has been driven mainly by consensus expectations of a soft landing for the US economy. This expectation is now under threat with the fall in US job creation in July and the sharp rise in the US unemployment rate to 4.3 percent. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also are a contributing factor," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,310 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Amid widespread selling pressure, the BSE benchmark plunged 885.60 points or 1.08 percent to close at 80,981.95 on Friday. The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 293.20 points or 1.17 percent to end at 24,717.70.

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