Sensex, Nifty under pressure; banks drag

Key equity indices were under pressure in mid-morning trade, dragged by weakness in banks shares. A spike in domestic coronavirus cases and localized lockdown being announced by various state governments dented investors sentiment.

At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1134.96 points or 2.32% to 47,697.07. The Nifty 50 index lost 335.30 points or 2.29% to 14,282.55.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.19% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.89%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 580 shares rose and 2107 shares fell. A total of 168 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 141,125,074 with 3,017,632 deaths.

India reported 1,929,329 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 178,769 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Several states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka etc continued to witness a record surge on Sunday. In view of the unprecedented surge, governments have imposed weekend lockdowns, night curfews etc in their respective states. The state of Rajasthan, for example, began a "self-discipline fortnight" on Monday which will be in effect till 5am on May 3.

New Listing:

Shares of Macrotech Developers were trading at Rs 465.25 at 11:18 IST on the BSE, a discount of 4.27% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 486.

The stock was listed at Rs 439, a discount of 9.67% to the IPO price. So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 472.60 and low of Rs 421.15. On the BSE, 1.55 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Macrotech Developers was subscribed 1.36 times. The issue opened for bidding on 7 April 2021 and closed on 9 April 2021. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 483-486 per share.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index slipped 3.75% to 30,776.85. The index has corrected by 4.16% in two sessions.

Among the private sector banks, RBL Bank (down 6.02%), IDFC First Bank (down 5.13%), Axis Bank (down 4.85%), Federal Bank (down 4.84%), IndusInd Bank (down 4.57%), ICICI Bank (down 3.97%), Bandhan Bank (down 3.95%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.72%), HDFC Bank (down 2.28%) and City Union Bank (down 1.48%) declined.

Bank of India (down 7.11%), Bank of Maharashtra (down 6.32%), Jammu and Kashmir Bank (down 6.1%), CBI (down 5.54%), Bank Of Baroda (down 5.49%), Canara Bank (down 5.44%), Punjab National Bank (down 5.03%), Indian Overseas Bank (down 5.01%), Indian Bank (down 4.22%), SBI (down 4.15%), Union Bank of India (down 4.06%) and UCO Bank (down 2.23%) edged lower.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks were trading higher on Monday as the global economic recovery and corporate earnings prospects bolstered sentiment despite rising Covid-19 infections.

Chinese stocks outperformed amid easing concerns about the health of state enterprise China Huarong Asset Management Co., a bad-debt manager.

China`s financial regulator on Friday reportedly said Huarong had ample liquidity, the first official comments since the company missed a deadline to report earnings. That was enough to cement a rally in Huarong bonds and ease contagion fears.

Japan`s exports posted their strongest growth in more than three years in March. Ministry of Finance data showed on Monday exports surged 16.1% in March from a year earlier, marking the steepest rise since November 2017. That was followed by a 4.5% contraction in February.

U.S. stocks rose again on Friday as the market`s rally to records carried on amid strong earnings from blue-chip companies as well as solid data signaling a snapback in the economy.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Friday the U.S. economy is set to take off, but there`s still no reason to start tightening policy.

The University of Michigan said Friday its preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to a one-year high of 86.5 in the first half of this month from 84.9 in March.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News