Sensex, Nifty End Lower Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes resumed decline after a say's breather in the previous session and ended on a weak note amid rising coronavirus cases in the country. The Sensex fell as much as 323 points and the NSE Nifty 50 index slumped below important psychological level of 9,200. HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the top drags on the Sensex.

The Sensex ended 0.76 per cent or 242 points lower at 31,443 and Nifty 50 index declined 0.6 per cent or 56 points to close at 9,215.

India reported 3,561 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 52,952, government data shows. The highly infectious virus has claimed 89 lives during the same period, the Health Ministry said.

Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Financial Services index's 1.6 per cent fall. Nifty Bank, FMCG, Pharma and Private Bank sector gauges also fell between 0.9-1.4 per cent each.

On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank index was top gainer, up 0.15 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note as the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.5 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.5 per cent.

Among the individual shares, Yes Bank shares jumped as much as 20 per cent a day after the private sector lender reported a net profit of Rs 2,628.61 crore for the March quarter as against a net loss of Rs 1,506.64 crore for the corresponding period a year ago.

NTPC was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock fell 4.3 per cent to close at Rs 90.60. Bharat Petroleum, ONGC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, GAIL India, Bharti Airtel, Titan, UPL, Zee Entertainment and Bajaj Auto were also among the losers, down 2.7-4.25 per cent each.

On the flipside, Bharti Infratel, IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank were among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 939 shares ended lower while 812 ended higher on the NSE.