Sensex dips below 19,500; drops over 250 points

The market sentiment was also affected adversely as provisional data from the stock exchanges showed that foreign funds remained net sellers at they sold shares worth a net Rs 244.95 crore last Friday.Depreciation of rupee against the dollar is another factor behind fall in share value.

The Sensex resumed lower at 19,643.89 and dropped further to 19,455, showing a loss of 272 points from last weekend's level.The NSE 50-share Nifty also fell by 79 points to 5,753.

Major losers were Tata Steel (6.36 percent), BHEL (4.83 percent), ICICI Bank (3.82 percent), Coal India (3.73 percent) and ONGC (3.22 percent).

Asian stocks fell on concern the US government is headed for a shutdown amid a budget stalemate. Key benchmark indices in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea fell 0.51 percent to 1.54 percent while China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.61 percent.

PTI