Sensex crashes 1,100 points in opening deals, Nifty slips below 9,600-mark on global cues

The benchmark equity market indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened over 3 per cent lower on Friday tracking losses in the global markets.

At 9:15 am, the S&P BSE Sensex down 1,101.68 points (3.28 per cent) at 32,436.69, while the broader Nifty 50 was at 9,544.95, down 357.05 points (3.61 per cent).

On Thursday, the Sensex had crashed 708.68 points (2.07 per cent) to end at 33,538.37, while the Nifty settled below the 10,000-mark at 9,902.00, down 214.15 points (2.12 per cent).

All the stocks on the Sensex were trading in the negative territory during the early deals on Friday. IndusInd Bank, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Maruti Suzuki India and ICICI Bank were the biggest losers in the early deals.

Sensex stocks at 9:17 am. (Source: BSE)

The sectoral indices on the NSE too were trading in a sea of red in the early deals. The Nifty PSU Bank slipped over 5 per cent weighed down by The Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Indian Bank and UCO Bank. The Nifty Private Bank index too was down over 4 per cent dragged by IndusInd Bank, RBL Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The fall in these two bank indices also led the key Bank Nifty to slip around 4 per cent.

Separately the Nifty Financial Services index was down over 3.5 per cent weighed by Bajaj Holdings & Investment, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services.

Here’s how the sectoral indices were performing:

Sectoral indices on NSE at 9:16 am. (Source: NSE)

Global markets

In the global markets, the Asian shares fell sharply on Friday after Wall Street and oil tumbled over growing concerns that a resurgence of coronavirus infections could stunt the pace of recovery in economies reopening from lockdowns.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 1.3 per cent. Australian stocks dropped 1.74 per cent, while shares in China fell 0.67 per cent.

Oil futures slumped for a second consecutive trading session due to worries about weak global energy demand, which weighed on the currencies of oil producers and countries that rely on exporting commodities.

The Chinese yuan headed for its biggest daily decline in two weeks, underscoring investors’ risk-averse mood in Asia.

The three major US stock indexes fell more than 5 per cent on Thursday, posting their worst day since mid-March, when markets were sent into freefall by the abrupt economic lockdowns put in place to contain the pandemic.

– global market inputs by Reuters