Sensex gives up 50K, ends 167 pts down; Nifty at 14,590; PSBs, metals hit

The benchmark Sensex tumbled 785 points from record high to hit an intra-day low of 49,399. However, the sell-off was quickly bought into and the BSE barometer of 30 shares ended at 49,625 levels, down 167 points or 0.34 per cent.

ONGC, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, and IndusInd Bank were the top laggards on the index, down between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. Weightage-wise, profit-booking in HDFC twins, Airtel, TCS, ITC, and SBI dragged the index lower.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index settled at 14,590 levels, down 54 points or 0.37 per cent.

All the key sectoral indices ended the day in a sea of red. Nifty PSU Bank index declined 3 per cent, followed by cuts in Nifty Realty index (down 2.3 per cent) and Nifty Metal index (down 2 per cent).

50,000 MILESTONE

Earlier in the day, liquidity expansion by the central bank supported by FII inflows, a V-shaped economic recovery aided by the discovery of Covid-19 vaccine, and swearing-in of Joe Biden as the new president of the United States propelled the S&P BSE Sensex above the 50,000-mark for the first time and towards a record peak of 50,184. The Nifty50, too, hit a record peak of 14,753 levels.

Going-ahead, analysts expect leaner balance sheet of India corporates along with government measures for growth to lift the economic growth ahead. The same is likely to resonate in capital markets, thereby keeping the markets buoyant in the long term. READ MORE
 

Global markets

World stocks racked up record highs on Thursday and the dollar fell, as investors bet major stimulus from new U.S. President Joe Biden and unswerving global central bank support would cushion the coronavirus’s economic damage.

Europe's traders hoisted the FTSE, DAX and CAC 40 0.2 per cent to 0.4 per cent higher and pushed up the euro again as they also waited for the European Central Bank's first policy meeting of the year.

With Wall Street and Asian stocks both reaching new highs overnight, MSCI's global index covering nearly 50 countries added 0.3 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)