Sensex tanks 400 points in early trade; Nifty slips below 14,800

MUMBAI: Market benchmark Sensex plunged over 400 points in early trade on Friday, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank amid a negative trend in Asian equities.

The 30-share BSE index tumbled 424.70 points or 0.85 per cent to 49,341.24 in initial deals. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 117.65 points or 0.79 per cent to 14,777.25.

HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Kotak Bank and SBI.On the other hand, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and Infosys were the gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex finished 32.10 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 49,765.94, and Nifty advanced 30.35 points or 0.20 per cent to 14,894.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 809.37 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 942.35 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, spiking COVID tells us that the light at the end of the tunnel, which the market is focussed on, is a long way away.

But the market is taking cues from the second wave experience of other countries where the curve flattened and fell in around two months.

"This explains the resilience of the market in the midst of very negative COVID-related news. An important point to be understood is that global markets are highly correlated, and therefore, a major correction is likely to be global," he stated.