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Markets tumble in early trade mirroring global sell-off; Sensex tanks over 700 points

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Thursday mirroring weak trends in global equities amid the US fiscal worries along with debt concerns. The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge Sensex tanked 578.3 points to 81,018.33 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 203.45 points to 24,610. Later, the BSE benchmark traded 746.48 points lower at 80,832.82, and the Nifty quoted 233.80 points down at 24,575.65.