MUMBAI (Reuters) The BSE Sensex fell to its lowest in two-and-a-half months on Monday morning and were trading 2.5 percent lower, as world markets plunged on concerns over Europe's sovereign debt crisis which saw investors opting for safer bets over riskier assets.Financials and energy giant Reliance Industries led the declining stocks, with only one component of the main stock index trading in the green."Our economy is strong. But, the market is driven by money, which is not coming in for now," said Arun Kejriwal, director of research firm KRIS.Foreign funds have pulled out around $500 million from Indian equities so far this month, with the Sensex dropping 5.6 percent in the period.They have still invested a net of nearly $6 billion in Indian stocks so far this year, after a record $17.5 billion in 2009."When the big economies which are major investors in our country are worried over the woes in Europe, do they have the time and inclination to look at an economy like us?," said Kejriwal.Top-listed firm Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, was down 3 percent to 1,013 rupees.Top lender State Bank of India dropped 3.5 percent.Local brokerage Anand Rathi said it retained "sell" rating on the stock as high employee pension liabilities and accelerated provisions are likely to keep the bank's return on equity lower than its peers.Leading private lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 2.7 percent and 1.9 percent respectively.Metals stocks were trading sharply lower as base metals extended losses with Shanghai copper slipping to three-month lows and its London equivalent at its weakest in almost two weeks.Tata Steel, the world's eighth-largest steelmaker, was down 4 percent. Non-ferrous metals producer Sterlite Industries and aluminium maker Hindalco were down 1.5 percent and 1,4 percent respectively.Reliance Communications was down nearly 2 percent. The No. 2 mobile phone operator reported a 16 percent fall in quarterly profit over the weekend, hit by a call price war, but the fall was smaller than expected due to higher net interest income.Top-listed real estate firm DLF was down 5.3 percent at 282.95 rupees. Improved demand for real estate helped the company to more than double its quarterly net profit from last year, when an economic slump had hit demand, but its earnings came below some analysts' expectations.In the broader market, losers were nearly four times the number of gainers in a volume of 112 million shares.The 50-share NSE index was down 2.4 percent at 4,971.30 points.Elsewhere in Asia, the MSCI's measure of Asian markets other than Japan was down 3.6 while Japan's Nikkei shed 2.2 percent.STOCKS ON THE MOVE* ABB was up 23 percent at 828.50 rupees, as the electrical equipment maker's promoter ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd sought to buy up to 22.9 percent stake in the firm at 900 rupees a share, or at a 34-percent premium to its last Friday's close.* State-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO) was up 0.4 percent at 410 rupees, after it said its fourth-quarter net more than quadrupled to 3.91 billion rupees.* Oil explorer Cairn India, a unit of Cairn Energy, slipped 2.9 percent to 283 rupees as crude prices declined to lowest in more than three months.MAIN TOP 3 BY VOLUME* Reliance Natural Resources on 3.3 million shares* Suzlon Energy on 1.4 million shares* Unitech on 1.3 million shares(Reporting by Ami Shah; editing by Malini Menon)(For more business news on Reuters Money visit http://www.reutersmoney.in)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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