Market plunges tracking global peers as COVID fears deepen

Rupee depreciates 19 paise to close at 76 against $

MUMBAI: Indian stock benchmarks on Monday crashed over 1.6 per cent in line with global selloffs as fears over a second wave of coronavirus infections in some countries dented economic recovery hopes.

The BSE barometer Sensex tanked 552.09 points or 1.63 points to close at 33,228.80. Intra-day, the index fell over 857 points before staging a mild recovery towards the fag-end of the session.

Likewise, the NSE Nifty tumbled 159.20 points or 1.60 per cent to settle at 9,813.70. On the Sensex chart, Indusind Bank was the top laggard, plunging about 7 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel, ITC and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, Sun Pharma and ONGC closed with gains.

Sectorally, BSE bankex, realty, finance, capital goods and power indices ended up to 3.53 per cent lower.

While energy and healthcare indices jumped up to 0.90 per cent.

In the broader market, midcap index fell 1.15 per cent, while smallcap ended flat. “Indian benchmark indices fell on June 15 on the back of weak global cues. The markets fell and recovered part of the losses in line with the movement in European indices and Dow Futures ,” Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.

Global shares sank as a resurgence of coronavirus cases in China and other countries deepened pessimism over prospects for a global economic recovery, he added.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul tanked up to 4.76 per cent. Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading lower.

International oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.93 per cent to USD 38.37 per barrel. On currency front, the rupee depreciated 19 paise and closed below the 76 per dollar mark on Monday as weak domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.

Forex traders said risk appetite has waned amid fresh cases of COVID-19 globally.

The rupee opened weak at 75.93 at the interbank forex market. It fell further and finally settled for the day at 76.03 against the US dollar, down 19 paise over its last close.