Sensex tanks 330 pts, Nifty below 7400; Bharti & SBI rally 2%

Last-hour sell-off sends the market tumbling. The market was flat throughout the day but last hour of trade saw a sharp nosedive tracking a sell-off in European markets. European markets extended losses after mixed employment data from the US on Friday kept investors focused on the Federal Reserve's next move in its interest rate hiking path.

The Sensex ended down 329.55 points or 1.3 percent at 24287.42 and the Nifty closed down 101.85 points or 1.4 percent at 7387.25. About 1186 shares have advanced, 1477 shares declined, and 136 shares are unchanged.

Analysts feel the market could be broadly be settling in the 7200-7700 range in the near-term though there is a possibility of the Nifty breaching its recent 7250 low in the course of the year However, Consulting editor Udayan Mukherjee says the first half of 2016 is a great opportunity for long-term investors with mouth-watering entry valuations.  Sanjeev Prasad, Senior Executive Director & Co-Head, Kotak Institutional Equities feels key risks are a slowing global economy, uncoordinated monetary policy actions by central banks and the Chinese currency.The government has backed the telecom regulator who refuses to allow differential pricing. According to TRAI, allowing service providers to charge differently for data could compromise the entire architecture of internet. TRAI said no new launches of prohibited packs/ plans or vouchers shall be permitted. It has imposed a monetary penalty of up to Rs 50 lakh for telecom providers found violating its order. Meanwhile, steel stocks were in focus today as the government has imposed a minimum import price (MIP) on steel products. The steel secretary says that domestic producers have assured the government that they will not increase prices to a level that will hurt steel consumers.Bharti Airtel, SBI, Axis Bank, Lupin and Tata Steel were top gainers while Tata Motors, ONGC, ITC, Sun Pharma and TCS were losers in the Sensex.

Precision Camshafts,  auto ancillary company, disappointed investors on its listing day. The stock closed at Rs 177.45 on the National Stock Exchange, down 4.6 percent compared to issue price of Rs 186.

After opening at Rs 165, it fell as much as 17 percent in early trade to hit an intraday low of Rs 154.50 but then it managed to recoup some of its losses during the day to touch day's high of Rs 185. The stock was opened at Rs 165.