Bears maintain grip as St sinks 491 points

Equity markets retreated sharply on Monday, extending losses for the fourth straight session as investors feared global trade war may worsen further with India now adopting retaliatory measures to impose tariffs on US goods.

Also, fresh geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and worries over choppy monsoon so far further dampened market sentiment, said dealers.

The BSE Sensex settled 491.28 points, or 1.25%, lower to end at 38960.79. The index hit an intra-day low of 38911.49 and a high of 39540.42.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 151.15 points, or 1.28%, to close at 11672.15. During the day, the index touched a low of 11657.75 and a high of 11844.05.

Tata Steel emerged as the biggest loser with over 5% fall. Other major losers were Vedanta, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel.