The benchmark Sensex lost as much as 288 points to hit a day’s low of 31,634.94 points today. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Sensex opened marginally higher but very quickly swung into the red while Nifty extended losses to open lower on Monday as most of the Asian shares fell in the early trade except Japan following the concerns about China’s economy. BSE Sensex gained 64 points to open at 31,986.4 points whereas NSE Nifty washed off 4 points to open at 9,960.1 points. Within minutes of trading both the key indices edged lower into negative territory. The benchmark Sensex lost as much as 288 points to hit a day’s low of 31,634.94 points and broader Nifty 50 shed 100 points to hit the day’s low of 9,864.6 points.
Shares of Adani Ports (down 3.05%), Tata Steel (down 2.61%), Lupin (down 2.53%), State Bank of India (down 2.16%), Axis Bank (down 2.55%), and L&T (down 1.92%) were the major losers on the Sensex index. The stocks of heavyweight companies such as Reliance Industries, L&T, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Axis Bank contributed the most to the index decline. Collectively these 8 stocks alone shaved off about 175 points out of 201 point slump in Sensex.
The PSU bank index of NSE lost the most, down 2.2% to 3,081 points. Other sectoral indices also fell up to 1.9% followed by Nifty Pharma, Metal, Realty and Nifty Bank.
The benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty plunged heavily on Friday on a possibility of North Korea that it may conduct another hydrogen bomb test, this time in the Pacific Ocean. The benchmark Sensex shed 484 points to mark the day’s low of 31,886.09 points which is its biggest fall since 15 November 2016 — demonetisation period. The broader Nifty 50 index also fell, lost as much as 169 points to fell below 10,000 mark to 9,952.8 points. The major drag to the indices came from the heavyweight stocks such as Reliance Industries, L&T and ICICI Bank. The 30-share barometer Sensex ended down 1.38% at 31,922.44 points while the 50-share indicator Nifty settled 1.56% lower at 9,964.4 points.
The S&P 500 closed slightly higher on Friday even though Apple was a drag, as worries about Washington’s latest healthcare legislation proposal eased and investors shrugged off concerns about North Korea. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.64 points, or 0.04 percent, to 22,349.59, the S&P 500 gained 1.62 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,502.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.23 points, or 0.07 percent, to 6,426.92.
