The Nifty slumped below the crucial 15,000 mark in the mid-afternoon trade. Rising COVID-19 case and negative global cues impacted domestic sentiment. PSU banks and auto shares corrected sharply.
At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 525.95 points or 1.05% at 50,798.44. The Nifty 50 index lost 167.1 points or 1.11% at 14,951.65.
Selling was broad based.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.9% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.15%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 1,054 shares rose and 1,858 shares fell. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 903.07 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,217.34 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 February 2021, provisional data showed.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank index slumped 4.83% to 2,463.15, snapping its five-day winning run. The index rallied nearly 17% in the past five sessions.
Central Bank of India (down 10%), Bank of India (down 9.88%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 9.36%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 8.24%), Union Bank of India (down 7.25%), UCO Bank (down 6.86%) and Indian Bank (down 6.2%) were top losers in PSU Bank segment.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee fell to 72.483, compared with its previous closing of 72.580
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement fell 0.27% to Rs 46,000.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, fell 0.2% to 90.422.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2021 settlement fell 93 cents to $63 a barrel.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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