Mumbai: The Sensex plunged 883 points while the Nifty crashed below the 14,400 level on Monday as the worst Covid-19 situation in the country caused a general sale. Several exclusions announced by some states have raised concerns about the economic recovery, while another sharp drop in the rupee also weighs on the risk appetite, traders said.
After the BSE Sensex crashed more than 1469 points in early trading, it reduced initial losses to 47,949.42, by 882.61 points or 1.81 percent. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty reached 258.40 points or 1.77 percent tank to end at 14,359.45.
PowerGrid was the best loser in the Sensex package, down 4.17 percent, followed by ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints and M&M. Only Dr Reddy’s and Infosys managed to finish in the green and rise to 1.58 percent.
Domestic equities, which have looked resilient over the past few days, have fallen sharply COVID-19 cases across the country and increased economic restrictions imposed by several states. “Announcements of wider mobility restrictions by governments of Rajasthan and Delhi have sent off investor sentiment,” said Binod Modi, chief strategy officer at Reliance Securities.
With the exception of pharmaceuticals and IT, which remained resilient, all major sector indices were sharply corrected. Steeper correction was seen by financial and cars. The volatility index rose more than 11 percent, which is not good, he added. Investors’ wealth tumbled by 3.53 lakh on Monday, and the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies was 201.77 lakh crore.
Sectors, BSE real estate, capital goods, power, automotive, industrial, finance and telecommunications indices fell to 3.96 percent, while the health index closed higher. Broader BSE middle and small cap indices slipped to 1.93 percent.
World equities were in a better position as investors waited for the most important corporate earnings. Elsewhere in Asia, the stock market in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended on a positive note. Stock exchanges in Europe also traded largely with gains in mid-session transactions. Meanwhile, Brent crude’s international oil benchmark traded 0.25 percent lower at $ 66.60 a barrel.
Source: Telangana Today