Sensex drops 1,100 points, Nifty below 9,700; banks worst-hit

Mumbai: Witnessing a gap-down opening, equity benchmark Sensex plummeted 1,100 points in early trade on Friday tracking massive global sell off fuelled by concerns over economic recovery and a second coronavirus wave in the US.

After starting at 32,436.69, the 30-share index pared some losses to trade 813.26 points, or 2.42 per cent, lower at 32,725.11.

Similarly, NSE Nifty plunged 228.15 points, or 2.30 per cent, to 9,673.85.

IndusInd Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling around 6 per cent, followed by ONGC, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and HDFC.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma was the sole gainer.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer tumbled 708.68 points, or 2.07 per cent, to close at 33,538.37, while the broader Nifty tanked 214.15 points, or 2.12 per cent, to 9,902.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 805.14 crore in the capital market on Thursday, provisional exchange data showed.

According to analysts, negative cues from global markets, foreign fund outflow and rising coronavirus cases continued to hit domestic investor sentiment.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street sank up to 6 per cent in overnight trade as coronavirus cases in the US increased again, deflating recent optimism for a quick economic recovery.

Market mood was also dampened after Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell signalled the US economy would take some time to bounce back from the COVID-19 crisis, analysts said.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul plunged up to 2 per cent.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.53 per cent to USD 37.96 per barrel.

Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 75 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.21 lakh.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,498 and the number of infections rose to 2.97 lakh, according to the health ministry.