Domestic stock markets declined close to 2 per cent on Friday, tracking broader losses in global markets on fading optimism about a fast recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P BSE Sensex index plunged as much as 1.90 per cent – or 741.17 points – to 38,249.77 in late afternoon deals, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark dropped to as low as 11,303.65, down 1.94 per cent – or 223.8 points – from its previous close. A selloff across most sectors, led by financial, energy and IT stocks, pulled the markets lower.
The Sensex ended 633.76 points – or 1.63 per cent – lower at 38,357.18 and Nifty 50 index settled at 11,333.85, down 193.60 points – or 1.68 per cent – from its previous close. (Track Sensex, Nifty LIVE)
Axis Bank, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, SBI and ICICI Bank, trading between 2.97 per cent and 4.46 per cent lower, were the worst hit among the 49 laggards in the 50-scrip Nifty basket. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki was up 1.64 per cent.
Reliance Industries, HDFC and ICICI Bank were the biggest drags on Sensex, together accounting for a fall of more than 200 points in the 30-scrip index.
Overall market breadth was sharply lower, with an advance-decline ratio of 1:2, as 885 stocks on the BSE traded higher against 1,798 that succumbed to losses.
“When US and global markets shiver, domestic markets also bound to get affected. The index (Nifty) has still not recovered even half from the lowest level recorded in Monday’s selloff,” AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Bank, told NDTV. “Markets will give a fantastic time, but not now… We need to wait a bit,” he said.
Official data this week showed the country’s economy shrank 23.9 per cent in the quarter ended June 30, its worst contraction on record. Earlier that day, the Sensex and Nifty each dropped more than 2 per cent after a border flare-up between India and China.
Equities in other Asian markets plunged on Friday, marking their worst session in two weeks, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last seen trading 1.45 per cent lower. The index was set for a weekly loss of around 2 per cent, its worst since April.
While Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark traded 1.13 per cent lower, China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI indices were down 1.38 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 1.56 per cent respectively.
The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.58 per cent, indicating a negative start for US markets on Friday.
Overnight in the US, the markets tumbled dragged by technology space shares, though gains in safer assets like bonds and dollars were muted ahead of a jobs report of the world’s largest economy. The technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq Composite index plunged 5 per cent, and the S&P 500 benchmark dropped 3.5 per cent, marking Wall Street’s steepest fall since June.
