Equity benchmarks continued to face heavy drubbing on Monday, with the Sensex tumbling over 713 points in early trade, following a sell-off in global markets and decline in shares of index major Reliance Industries.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices also continued to weigh on sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 713.49 points to 54,122.09 in early trade. The NSE Nifty also tumbled 248.7 points to 16,162.55.

Among the Sensex pack firms, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and State Bank of India were the major laggards in early deals. Power Grid was the only gainer among the 30-share pack.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo and Korea were trading lower, while Shanghai traded marginally higher.

"Asian markets got off to a shaky start on Monday as US stock futures took an early skid on rate worries, while a tightening lockdown in Shanghai stoked concerns about global economic growth and possible recession," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Stock exchanges in the US had fallen on Friday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.46 per cent to USD 112.92 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors again offloaded shares worth Rs 5,517.08 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.

The Sensex dived 866.65 points or 1.56 per cent to finish at 54,835.58 on Friday.

The Nifty tumbled 271.40 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at 16,411.25.

Rupee slumps all-time low

The rupee extended its losses and touched an all-time low of 77.42 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday weighed down by the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.17 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 77.42, registering a fall of 52 paise from the last close.

On Friday, the rupee had slumped 55 paise to close at 76.90 against the US dollar.

The Indian rupee opened weaker on Monday against the dollar as weakness in global equities on concerns over economic outlook and rising bond yields weighed on sentiments, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Forex traders said, risk appetite has weakened amid mounting concerns about inflation that may trigger more aggressive rate hikes by the global central banks.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.35 per cent higher at 104.02, tracking rising US yields and fears about higher interest rates.

Moreover, Asian and emerging market peers started weak this Monday morning and will weigh on sentiments.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 737 points or 1.34 per cent lower at 54,098.58 points, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 220.25 points or 1.34 per cent to 16,191.00 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.14 per cent to USD 112.55 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,517.08 crore, as per stock exchange data.