ICICI, HDFC Bank lift Sensex off lows, ends 617pts down; Tata Steel dips 4%

Equity markets fell for a second day on Monday as high commodity prices, fears of tighter policy regime, and rising Covid-19 cases weighed on the investor sentiment.

The frontline S&P BSE Sensex tumbled over 800 points intra-day before closing at 56,580, down 617 points or 1.08 per cent. The NSE Nifty50, on the other hand, breached below the 16,900-mark intra-day to hit a low of 16,888. It ended at 16,985, down 187 points or 1.09 per cent.

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Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, and Kotak Bank were the only gainers on the Nifty50 index, rising up to 2 per cent. On the downside, Coal India, BPCL, Tata Steel, SBI Life, Hindalco, Tata Motors, and Sun Pharma shed up to 6.5 per cent.

The broader indices, meanwhile, underperformed on the bourses and slipped 1.8 per cent each with Tata Communications, Jubilant Foodworks, Cummins India, Oberoi Realty, Future Group shares, and Birla Tyres sliding between 5 per cent and 20 per cent.

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Sectorally, only the Nifty Private Bank index ended the day in the green zone, up 0.44 per cent. The Nifty Realty index was the worst hit, down 4 per cent, followed by the Nifty Metal index (down 3 per cent).

Global markets

Mainland Chinese indexes led losses as Asia-Pacific markets fell sharply on Monday following a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday. The Shenzhen component tumbled 6.08 per cent to 10,379.28 while the Shanghai composite declined 5.13 per cent to 2,928.51. 

Meanwhile, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index opened 1.3 per cent lower with all sectors in negative territory.