Sensex Tanks Over 600 Points in Early Trade, Nifty Slips Below 14,400

Mumbai, Mar 19: Equity benchmark Sensex tanked over 600 points in early trade on Friday, tracking losses in HDFC Bank, L&T and Reliance Industries amid negative cues from global markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 617.10 points or 1.25 per cent lower at 48,599.42, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 201.35 points or 1.38 per cent to 14,356.50.

ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slumping around 5 per cent, followed by L&T, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Maruti, SBI, Titan, HDFC twins and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were the gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 585.10 points or 1.17 per cent lower at 49,216.52, and Nifty slumped 163.45 points or 1.11 per cent to 14,557.85.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,258.47 crore, as per exchange data.

Domestic equities do not look inspiring for the day. Intensifying concerns pertaining to the recent surge in coronavirus cases in various parts of the country have clearly dented investors' sentiments in domestic markets, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Further, a sharp spike in USA treasury yields and inflationary concerns also weighed on sentiments, he noted.

"US equities finished sharply lower yesterday as investors dealt with twin threats of rising bond yields and sliding oil prices. 10-Year US Treasury yield surged 9 bps on Thursday to 14-month high to 1.73 per cent despite Federal Reserve maintaining its dovish stance on interest rates," Modi added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.16 per cent higher at USD 63.38 per barrel.

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