LIVE: Sensex tanks over 400 points, Nifty cracks below 9,900-mark

Sensex plunged 406.10 points or 1.27 percent to 31,516.34.

The benchmark equity index was dragged by banks, metals, auto and pharma stocks.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 130.55 points or 1.31 percent to 9,833.85.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd and Larsen & Tourbro Ltd fell 1.5 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.

The Nifty PSU Bank index was down for a third straight session, sliding as much as 2.8 percent. Andhra Bank and Canara Bank Ltd lost more than 2 percent each.

Tata Steel Ltd was among the top percentage losers on the index, plunging more than 4 percent and pushing the Nifty Metal index lower.

Meanwhile, Shopper`s Stop Ltd climbed to its highest since Feb. 5, 2015 after an Amazon affiliate agreed to buy a stake in the retailer.

 Sensex was down 322.87 points or 1.01 percent at 31,599.57, and the Nifty down 107.50 points or 1.08 percent at 9,856.90.

Equity benchmarks remained under pressure in morning as the Sensex was down 287 points at 31,635.31 on likely widening in fiscal deficit target.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 102 points or 1.02 percent to 9,862.30 as nine out of 50 stocks were in red.

Gold prices dropped on Monday, and hovered around one-month lows hit last week, weighed down by a firm U.S. dollar and as concerns over the Korean peninsula eased over the weekend. 
Spot gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,293.35 per ounce at 0418 GMT, not far from last week`s near one-month low of $1,287.61. Prices for the yellow metal dropped about 1.7 percent last week, posting their second consecutive weekly decline. 

The rupee made a tepid rise of 3 paise to 64.76 against the US dollar in early part of the day as selling of the American currency by exporters and banks gathered pace

The Sensex of the BSE, which opened at 31,986.40A points, was trading at 31,777.60 points (at 9.20 a.m.), lower 144.84 points or 0.45 per cent from the previous day`s close at 31,922.44 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 32,016.52 points and a low of 31,761.96 points in the trade so far.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 156.59 points at 31,765.85 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 41.35 points to 9,923.