Sensex extends losses on Covid-19 worries, falls 440 points

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices drifted lower in the opening trade on Tuesday as rising Covid-19 cases in Europe and an international report alleging moving illicit funds by banks kept equity indices under immense pressure.

A surge in fresh coronavirus infections in countries such as France, Austria or the Netherlands are worrying, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday, adding that Germany will sooner or later import cases from there.

At 9.48 am, BSE flagship Sensex was down 446.70 points or 1.25 per cent to 37,557.46 while NSE benchmark Nifty dropped 134.45 points or 1.20 per cent to 11,116.10. All sectors saw selling led by media and PSU bank names.

India VIX, the measure of volatility in the market, also surged 4.63 per cent to 23.21.

In the 30-share pack Sensex, Tech Mahindra was the biggest gainer, up 1.18 per cent at Rs 796.40. It was followed by TCS, HCL Technologies and ICICI Bank that gained in the range of 0-2 per cent.

Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the pack, down 3.56 per cent at Rs 359.95. Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank and Titan were among other major losers, falling in the range of 2-3 per cent.

Broader market indices were faring worse than their headline peers as Nifty Smallcap dropped 4.87 per cent while Nifty Midcap tanked 3.52 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was down 1.71 per cent.

Nifty Media was the biggest sectoral loser on NSE, dropping 4.11 per cent. It was followed by Nifty PSU Bank that fell 2.69 per cent and Nifty Metal that slid 2.52 per cent. All sectoral indices were trading with cuts.

Globally, Asian shares extended losses for the second day while the dollar rose, as possible delays in expanded US stimulus and concerns about fresh pandemic lockdowns in Europe knocked investor sentiment.

Hong Kong shares of HSBC and Standard Chartered fell more than 2 per cent each, as global banking stocks remained under intense pressure on reports about financial institutions allegedly moving illicit funds. British lenders HSBC and StanChart were among global lenders named as having transferred more than $2 trillion in suspect funds over nearly two decades.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7 per cent pressured by miners and energy stocks, while China's blue-chip index shed 0.1 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.5 per cent. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.