Sensex slips below 44,000 on weak global cues; Nifty tests 12,900

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices kicked off Thursday's session on a weak note, tracking overnight fall in US stocks after New York City decided to temporarily close schools because of the coronavirus. Fears of rising Covid cases globally offset optimism about Covid-19 vaccines, triggering profit-taking in global stocks after a strong recent rally.

Domestic stocks were no exception.

By 9.19 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 192.13 points or 0.43 per cent lower at 43,987.92. The NSE barometer Nifty50 stood at 12,887.95, down 50.30 points or 0.39 per cent.

What's is leading to market fall?

• US lockdown: The US death toll from Covid-19 surpassed a grim new milestone of 250,000 lives lost on Wednesday, as New York City's public school system, the nation's largest, called a halt to in-classroom instruction, citing a jump in coronavirus infection rates, Reuters reported. New York City joined other large school districts in cities like Boston, Detroit, Las Vegas, Philadelphia that have recently cancelled in-person learning due to rising coronavirus cases.

• Fall in financial stocks: Stocks such as HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI contributed most to Monday's fall. Axis Bank fell 1.78 per cent to Rs 624.85. ICICI Bank fell 1.7 per cent to Rs 489. HDFC declined 1.47 per cent to Rs 2,329. SBI and HDFC Bank dropped 1.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. These stocks contributed nearly 230 points negatively to the Sensex fall. Financial stocks account for about a third of index weightage.

How are bluechips doing
Sixteen of 30 Sensex stocks were still trading higher in early trade. While baking stocks led the fall, heavyweights such as Reliance and TCS restricted losses. Tata Steel rose 2.03 per cent to Rs 527. Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance rose 1.87 per cent and 1.29 per cent, respectively. Reliance rose 1.12 per cent to Rs 2,009. TCS added 0.85 per cent to Rs 2,648.

Broader markets
Broader market indices largely beat the benchmark. The BSE Midcap index rose 0.19 per cent while BSE Smallcap index was up 0.41. Broadest index on BSE, BSE 500 was down 0.15 per cent.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank plunged 20 per cent to Rs 9.95. SpiceJet jumped 10.32 per cent to Rs 73.20. Vedanta rose 5.56 per cent to Rs 114.90 while DHFL added 4.91 per cent to Rs 20.30.

Global markets
Asian stocks followed Wall Street's sharp selloff on Thursday as concerns about rising coronavirus infections and new shutdowns in major US cities hosed down earlier investor enthusiasm about COVID-19 vaccine developments. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 per cent in early trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.02 per cent. Japan's Nikkei225 fell 0.4 per cent.