The equity benchmark fell 1,400 points to hit an intraday low of 48,112.17 in early trade on Monday as the country reported a surge in Covid-19 cases. With the prospects of another lockdown in Maharashtra continue to weigh on the investor’s sentiment, the 30-stock BSE index crashed 1,394 points to 48,197 against the previous close of 49,591. The Nifty too slipped by 365 points to 14,396 in early trade.
As of 11:40 am, the 30-stock BSE index was trading 3.10 percent lower at 48,054. While the broader NSE Nifty was down by 3.07 percent at 14,378. The investor’s wealth of Rs 6.86 lakh crore tumbled as India hit the second wave of coronavirus.
The plunge in equity indices resulted in the loss of the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies from existing Rs 6,86,708.74 crore to Rs 2,02,76,533.13 crore. Among the top Sensex losers are Indusind bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, with their shares falling as much as 7.82 percent. 27 out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading in red in the morning.
On the other hand, unaffected by the Covid-19 surge, BSE-listed companies like Infosys, Cipla, Divi’s Labs, and Dr. Reddy’s Labs were among the notable gainers.
According to the experts, the second wave of the coronavirus has a profound impact on the economy and the markets which have spooked investor sentiments. The situation is worst in economically significant Maharashtra, which can impact the market’s assumption of 11 percent growth in GDP and above 30 percent earning growth.
Read Also: With 1.35 crore Covid cases, India takes over Brazil to become second most affected country
In the last 24 hours, India reported fresh cases of 1,69,899 infections, the record rise in daily caseload, since the outbreak of the pandemic. As many as 904 deaths were reported in a single day, taking the total fatalities to 1,70,179. The total tally in India now stands at more than 1.35 crore, overtaking Brazil to become the second most affected country by coronavirus globally after the US.