As many states impose restrictions to curtail the spread of COVID-19 this took a toll on Dalal Street with investors losing Rs 5.27 lakh crore within the first half an hour of trade.
The dollar index was languishing near a one month low against its rivals. The Benchmark US 10 year Treasury yields edged lower towards multi-week lows hit last week. Further the European Central Bank is meeting on Thursday and no changes to rates are expected.
The benchmark indices have plunged further after opening in the red. The BSE flagship Sensex was down 1,397 points at 9.40 am. The NSE benchmark Nifty followed shedding 408 points to 14,210. The biggest gainer was Dr Reddy Laboratories . up 0.96 per cent. Divi’s Laboratories and Cipla were the other gainers. ICIC bank lost the most. down 5.23 per cent.
The other losers were Mahindra Bank, Induslnd Bank, Axis Bank. SBI. Adani Ports. Bajaj Auto. Bajaj Finance. HDFC and Kotak. Nifty Smallcap was down 3.06 per cent while the Nifty Midcap fell by 3.13 per cent while Nifty 500 was down 2.58. per cent. Syngene. Cummins India, Dr Lal Pathlabs. Linde India. Future Retail and Thyrocare Technologies were gainers from the space while HEG, Bajaj Electricals. Hindustan Copper. AU Small Finance Bank. RBL Bank and Adani Total Gas were under selling pressure.
On the global scene, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific share outside Japan was last 695.59 with a striking distance of Friday’s high of 696.48. The Australian shares were 0.25 per cent higher while New Zealand’s benchmark index and South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.4 per cent each.