The S&P BSE benchmark Sensex snapped its three-day winning spree by tumbling 258 points in late morning trade today on fresh selling in banking, PSU, refinery and FMCG sector stocks, triggered by lower Asian cues.
The 30-share barometer resumed lower at 19,880.94 and dropped further to 19,657.72 before quoting 19,915.95 points at 1030 hours.
It showed a loss of 258.23 points of 1.30 per cent from its last weekend's level.
The NSE 50-share index Nifty also fell by 67.95 points, or 1.15 per cent, to 5,839.35 at 1030 hours.
Major losers were - ICICI Bank (3.70 per cent), Coal India (3.50 per cent), HDFC Bank (2.87 per cent), HDFC (2.21 per cent), Bharti Airtel (2.09 per cent), ITC (1.96 per cent), RIL Ind (1.57 per cent), Tata Power (1.42 per cent), SBI (1.41 per cent) and Larsen (1.35 per cent).
Asian markets edged lower in the early trade as lawmakers in Washington remain deadlocked over extending the nation's debt limit to avoid default.
Key benchmark indices in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea fell by 0.03 to 1.05 per cent.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 541.36 crore on last Friday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
