Sensex tanks 397 points; Nifty slips below 15,000

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 397 points on Monday, tracking losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank amid weak macroeconomic cues.

After gyrating 1,035.71 points during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 397 points or 0.78 per cent lower at 50,395.08. The broader NSE Nifty finished 101.45 points or 0.67 per cent down at 14,929.50.

Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and NTPC were among the gainers.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities witnessed sharp sell-off for the second consecutive trading day as mounting concerns about resurgence of COVID-19 cases in various parts of the country and rising bond yields made investors jittery.

"Further, unexpected contraction in IIP data for January 2021 and sharp spike in CPI print also weighed on sentiments," he said.

Industrial production growth re-entered the negative territory by contracting by 1.6 per cent in January, while retail inflation soared to a three-month high of 5.03 per cent in February on costlier food items, as per data released post market hours on Friday.

Further, the wholesale price-based inflation rose for the second consecutive month in February to 4.17 per cent, as food, fuel and power prices spiked.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Seoul were in the red, while Hong Kong and Tokyo ended on a positive note. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.01 per cent lower at USD 69.21 per barrel.