Sensex Crash Today: Sensex tanks over 1,000 points amid rise in Covid cases; Nifty below 14,600 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity indices plunged in opening trade on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 1,000 points as India reported over 1 lakh new Covid cases in the last 24 hours.
The 30-share BSE index was trading 1,091 points or 2.18 per cent lower at 48,939; while the broader NSE Nifty was down 295 points or 1.98 per cent at 14,573.
Top losers in the sensex pack included IndusInd Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank with their shares falling up to 4.90 per cent.
On the NSE platform, except Nifty IT, all other sub-indices were trading in red with Nifty Bank, PSU Bank, Financial Services falling up to 3.68 per cent.
India’s coronavirus caseload jumped by a record to surpass 12.5 million on Monday, while the death toll crossed 165,000. Maharashtra — home to the financial capital Mumbai — imposed stringent curbs including a complete lockdown on weekends.
“Domestic equities do not look to be inspiring at the moment. A sharp spike in coronavirus cases in the country and resultant restrictions are likely to dent investors’ sentiments in the near term,” Binod Modi, head – strategy at Reliance Securities told news agency PTI.
“Imposition of weekend lockdown in Maharashtra, which contributes over 13 per cent of the country’s GDP and nearly 20 per cent of India’s industrial output, does not augur well,” he added.
In the previous session on Thursday, sensex ended 520.68 points or 1.05 per cent higher at 50,029.83, and Nifty rose 176.65 points or 1.2 per cent to settle at 14,867.35.
Financial markets were closed on April 2, for ‘Good Friday’.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 149.41 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.
(With inputs from agencies)