After Sitharaman’s Liquidity Measures, Indian Equity Market Opens on Negative Note; Sensex Falls by 600 Pts

Mumbai: A day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several liquidity measures for MSMEs and NBFCs, the Indian equity market opened on a negative note, with the BSE Sensex falling over 600 points. Also Read – ‘Impactful Package’ or ‘Big Zero’? Here’s How Political Leaders React to Nirmala Sitharaman’s Announcement

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange also plunged over 100 points to trade below the 9,300 mark. Also Read – Nirmala Sitharaman’s Briefing of PM Modi’s Rs 20 Lakh Crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Package Makes Twitter Trend ‘#NoUlluBanaoingModiji’

The decline in the domestic indices is in line with the plunge in the Asian stock markets, analysts said. Also Read – From MSMEs to Income Tax Returns: Nirmala Sitharaman’s Briefing on Rs 20 Lakh cr Package | Highlights

Around 9.42 a.m., Sensex was 31,600.62, lower by 407.99 points or -1.27 per cent from the previous close of 32,008.61.

It had opened at 31,466.33 and so far touched an intra-day-high of 31,628.56 and a low of 31,344.50.

The Nifty50 was trading at 9,266, lower by 117.55 points or 1.25 per cent from the previous close.

Further, investors are weighing Sitharaman’s announcement of the first set of components of the Rs 20-lakh-crore COVID-19 economic stimulus package, analysts said.

Markets are disappointed because the immediate spend out of the big government fiscal stimulus is relatively small, and there are doubts on whether economic growth will revive soon and in proportion to the large size of the stimulus, they noted.

(With agency inputs)