SENSEX, NIFTY FALL ON WEAK EARNINGS, FEARS AROUND COVID

BENGALURU: Indian shares ended lower on Thursday as results from carmaker Maruti and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro fell short of expectations, with new lockdowns in Europe’s biggest economies also hitting sentiment.

Ahead of the October derivatives expiry, the Nifty closed down 0.5% at 11,670.8 and the Sensex ended 0.43% lower at 39,749.85.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) fell as much as 5.78%, dragging down the Nifty infrastructure index as much as 1.27%. This was after the industrial conglomerate reported a quarterly loss from continuing operations on a standalone basis on Wednesday.

Maruti Suzuki marked its sharpest intraday drop since September 24.

The domestic market was also pressured by concerns over the global economic recovery as Germany and France imposed new restrictions to contain a second wave of virus infections.

MSCI’s broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan slumped 0.6% overnight, while European shares struggled to stabilise

“Sentiment across the globe is a little fearful because there are concerns that things can go berserk because of the virus,” said Deepak Shenoy, founder and chief executive officer, Capitalmind in Bengaluru.

India’s Covid-19 case tally crossed a grim milestone of 8 million as of Thursday morning, health ministry data showed.

The Nifty financials index closed 0.7% lower and the Nifty consumer goods index declined 0.96%.

Watchmaker Titan Co slid 2.6% after the company reported a drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday.

Asian Paints rose 2.9%, topping gainers in the Nifty. Tech Mahindra rose 2.2%.

THE NIFTY CLOSED DOWN 0.5% AT 11,670.8 AND THE SENSEX ENDED 0.43% LOWER AT 39,749.85