<div><div>The benchmark BSE Sensex plunged over 308 points in early trade on Tuesday (29 September) on sustained selling by funds and retail investors ahead of RBI's monetary policy review amid a weak trend overseas.</div><div> </div><div>Besides, depreciation in the rupee, which fell by 32 paise to 66.37 against the US dollar, weighed on sentiments.</div><div> </div><div>Continuing yesterday's weakness, the 30-share index fell by 308.90 points, or 1.20 per cent, to 25,307.94, with all the sectoral indices, led by metal, banking and auto, trading in negative zone with losses up to 2 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>The gauge had lost 246.66 points in the previous session.</div><div> </div><div>Also, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 94.80 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 7,700.90 in early trade.</div><div> </div><div>Brokers said besides weak trend on other Asian bourses, tracking heavy selling in Europe and the US on renewed concerns about China's slowing economy, continued selling by cautious funds and retail investors ahead of RBI's policy review later in the day, influenced sentiments.</div><div> </div><div>Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 3 per cent, Japan's Nikkei shed 2.77 per cent, while Shanghai Composite index fell 1.87 per cent in early trade today.</div><div> </div><div>The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.92 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.</div></div><div> </div><div>Asian shares skidded to 3-1/2-year lows and the dollar sagged on Tuesday, pulled down by a sharp losses on Wall Street after weak Chinese data rekindled worries about its fragile economy.</div><div> </div><div>Commodities struggled after fears of weaker demand pushed them to multi-year lows overnight. Adding to the gloom, commodity trader Glencore's Hong Kong-listed shares were around 28-percent lower on Tuesday, after its London-listed stock plunged on debt worries a day earlier..</div><div> </div><div>MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 2.2 percent, touching its lowest levels since June 2012 and extending early declines after Chinese shares opened lower.</div><div> </div><div>China's blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index were both down 1.8 percent.</div><div> </div><div>Japan's Nikkei stock index tumbled 2.8 percent to 8-month lows.</div><div> </div><div>On Wall Street on Monday, major indexes all closed sharply down. The S&P 500 index hit a one-month low on bullish U.S. consumer spending data in August as it raised concerns the Federal Reserve could hike rates at a time of slackening global growth.</div><div> </div><div>The Fed held off from raising interest rates at its meeting earlier this month, citing worries about the global economy, particularly China.</div><div> </div><div>But New York Fed President William Dudley said the central bank remains on track for a likely rate hike this year and could move as soon as next month.</div><div> </div>
