New Delhi - India's stock markets slipped into the red Monday with the benchmark Sensex index closing 4.78 per cent lower on profit taking and falls in markets across Asia. The 30-share sensitive Sensex index of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed down 480.35 points at 9,568.14. The Sensex had gained 1,081.81 points, or 12.06 per cent, during a five-day bull run last week. It had climbed nearly 21 per cent in the past three weeks. But similarly Monday, the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was quoted at 2,978.15, a loss of 130.50 points, or 4.2 per cent. Brokers said investors sold stocks to lock in profits from the previous gains after other Asian bourses fell. Slowing economic growth and uncertainty on India's political situation ahead of general elections in the country also impacted the markets. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee depreciated against the dollar in morning trade amid weak equity markets. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the domestic currency traded at 50.90/92 to the dollar against its previous close of 50.58/59 and was quoted at 50.96/97 a dollar in late morning trade.

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