Sensex dives over 1,000 points as banking, financial stocks fall; Nifty below 14,350 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity indices plunged on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling over 1,000 points amid fall banking and financial stocks.
The 30-share BSE index dived 1,004 points or 2.06 per cent to 47,828 in late morning deals; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 290 points or 1.99 per cent lower to 14,328.
Major laggards in the BSE pack included IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and HDFC with their stocks down as much as 5.69 per cent.
Investors’ wealth tumbled over Rs 3.70 lakh crore as markets went into a tailspin.
Following the massive selloff, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies declined by Rs 3,70,729.4 crore to Rs 2,01,60,016.60 crore.
On the NSE platform, except for Nifty Pharma, all other sub-indices were trading in red with Nifty PSU Bank sliding as much as 5.87 per cent.
Investors feared harsher restrictions and more economic pain amid record surge in Covid-19 cases.
Coronavirus: Live updates
India on Monday reported its tenth record daily increase in Covid cases in eleven days, with the capital city of New Delhi — currently under a weekend curfew — reporting a shortage in critical-care beds.
Maharashtra has already imposed stringent curbs, effective April 15.
In the previous session, sensex had ended 28 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 48,832, and Nifty rose 36 points or 0.25 per cent to 14,618.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 437.51 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.
“The health crisis India is going through and localised lockdowns and restrictions on economic activity warrant a market correction,” V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told news agency PTI.
(With inputs from agencies)