Equities lost heavy ground during the morning session as investors remained jittery amidst a negative global trend and weak corporate earnings.
At 10:45 a.m., the 30-share Sensex was trading at 36,517, down 601 points or 1.62% with as many as 25 of its constituents in the red.
Index majors like Yes Bank, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Maruti and ICICI Bank among others lost heavy ground.
The broader Nifty lost 185 points or 1.68% to trade at 10,812. The India VIX index surged nearly 15% during the morning session.
Market participants attribute the heavy selloff to the concerns emanating from the ongoing US-China trade war with reports suggesting that the Asian major has asked State-owned entities to halt imports from the US.
Most other leading Asian indices like Hang Seng, Kospi and Nikkei were also trading over 2% lower.
Back in India, the broader market breadth was very weak with as many as 1,576 stocks in the red, as against only 366 gainers. Further, as many as 128 stocks hit their lower circuit on Monday.
