Benchmark indices ended in the red today in line with negative global cues. Sensex slumped 486 points as rising cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant in multiple countries and hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve spooked investors.
The 30-share index ended 485.82 points lower at 52,568 and Nifty dropped 151.75 points to 15,727.
Tata Steel was the top Sensex loser skidding 2.30 per cent followed by Sun Pharma, SBI, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy’s, Kotak Bank and HUL.
Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, PowerGrid, HCL Tech and NTPC were among the Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.32 per cent.
Of 30 Sensex stocks, 24 ended in green.
BSE midcap and small cap indices fell 83 points and 23 points, respectively.
BSE auto and healthcare indices too lost 231 points each in trade today.
Banking and metal indices were the top losers with BSE bankex and BSE metal indices slipping 562 and 463 points, respectively.
“Pessimistic global cues dented the morale of Dalal Street with selling pressure seen across the sectors amid high volatility. Global markets were deep in the red, shadowing a weakness in the Asian markets following the widening Chinese tech crackdown and concerns over the country’s economic recovery.
“As we kickstart Q1FY22 results season, initial releases of IT sector and a good number of lucrative IPOs will be in focus for the coming weeks,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 230.79 lakh crore.
Market breadth was negative with 1,360 stocks ending higher against 1,830 falling on BSE.
Global markets
Global stock markets and Wall Street futures fell Thursday after the Federal Reserve talked about possibly reducing US economic stimulus. Japan was preparing to declare a coronavirus state of emergency during the Olympics due to a surge of infections.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 1.4% to 7,047.80 while the DAX in Frankfurt shed 1.4% to 15,477.08. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 1.9% to 6,403.30.
On Wall Street, the future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average also was off 1.2%. That for the S&P 500 lost 1.1%.
In Asia, Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.9% to 28,118.03. In South Korea, the Kospi lost 1% to 3,252.68. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 3,525.50. Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 2.9% to 27,153.13,
