Sensex crashed nearly 1,400 points in early trade as rising Covid-19 cases in the country took a toll on investor sentiment. India recorded over 1 lakh coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest single-day rise since the pandemic began last year.
Sentiment on Dalal Street was also affected after the Maharashtra government imposed a night curfew in the state from 8 pm to 7 am from today. The state will also go for a complete weekend lockdown from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday.
Sensex lost 1,391 points to 48,638 and Nifty slipped 388 points to 14,479 in early trade.
On April 1, Sensex and Nifty, ended higher amid broad-based buying. Sensex reclaimed 50,000 by closing 520 points, or 1.05 per cent higher at 50,029, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 14,867, up 176 points or 1.2 per cent. Market was closed on April 2 on the occasion of Good Friday.
Top Sensex losers were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, SBI and ICICI Bank falling up to 6.52%.
IT stocks bucked the trend with HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS rising up to 0.94% on Sensex. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 27 were trading in the red.
Banking stocks led the losses with BSE bankex plunging 1,527 points to 36,711. Bank Nifty too slipped 1,418 points to 32,439
Consumer durables stocks were among the top losers with the BSE index falling 755 points to 32,053.
IT stocks rose after Indian currency slipped 31 paise to 73.43 against the US dollar in opening trade.
BSE IT index was the only major gainer among 19 sectoral indices rising 185 points to 26,954.
At the interbank forex market, rupee opened at 73.38 against the US dollar, then fell further to 73.43, registering a decline of 31 paise over its previous close.