BSE Sensex NSE Nifty LIVE Updates: Sensex Falls Over 350 Points, Nifty Drops Below 9,400 Ahead Of GDP Data Amid COVID-19

Sensex Falls Over 350 Points, Nifty Drops Below 9,400 Ahead Of GDP Data: 10 Things To Know

Losses in banking and financial services stocks pulled the markets lower

Domestic stock markets started Friday's session on a lacklustre note ahead of the release of official gross domestic product (GDP) data for the January-March period due later in the day. The S&P BSE Sensex index fell as much as 1.17 per cent - or 376.79 points - to 31,823.80 in early trade, having started the day down 159.3 points at 32,041.29. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark declined to as low as 9,376.90, having opened lower at 9,422.20 compared to its previous close of 9,490.10. Losses in banking and financial services stocks, which had fuelled the rally for past two days, pulled the markets lower. However gains in consumer goods and pharmaceutical shares arrested the fall.

Here are 10 things to know:

At 9:31 am, the Sensex traded 305.55 points - or 0.95 per cent - lower at 31,895.04 while the Nifty was down 73.65 points - or 0.78 per cent - at 9,416.45.
Twenty seven shares in the Nifty basket of 50 components fell. Top percentage losers were Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance, trading between 2.23 per cent and 3.41 per cent lower. On the other hand, Bharti Infratel, Grasim, Cipla, Dr Reddy's and Asian Paints - up between 1.85 per cent and 7.73 per cent each - were the top Nifty gainers.
Market breadth, however, favoured gains, as 693 stocks moved higher on the BSE against 550 that traded lower. On the NSE, 807 shares advanced while 702 declined.
Analysts awaited the GDP data due at 5:30 pm for more clarity on the damage caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has pushed the economy into a standstill and forced many businesses to trim workforce impacting a large sum of workers.
According to the median forecast from a poll of economists by news agency Reuters, the country's GDP grew 2.1 per cent in the March quarter, lower than 4.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
However, the full impact of the lockdown on manufacturing and services will become more apparent in the June quarter, with Goldman Sachs predicting a 45 per cent contraction from a year ago.
Equities elsewhere in Asia moved lower amid rising US-China tensions, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan last seen trading down 0.14 per cent.
Japan's Nikkei 225, China's Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices were down 0.28 per cent, 0.04 per cent, 0.34 per cent and 0.15 per cent at the time respectively.
The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.32 per cent, indicating a negative start for Wall Street on Friday. Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 benchmark index closed 0.21 per cent lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.58 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.46 per cent.
On Thursday, the Sensex had ended 595.37 points - or 1.88 per cent - higher at 32,200.59 and the Nifty settled at 9,490.10, up 175.15 points - or 1.88 per cent - from its previous close, as both indices extended gains to a second straight session backed by strong buying interest in banking shares.