Mumbai, August 3: Equity benchmark indices cracked by over 1.5 per cent on Monday as investors fretted over the economic consequences of surging new coronavirus cases across the world. At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 667 points or 1.77 per cent at 36,940 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 174 points or 1.57 per cent at 10,900.

Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty private bank down by 2.9 per cent, financial service by 2.2 per cent and realty by 1.2 per cent. Among stocks, shares of Bandhan Bank slid by 10.6 per cent to Rs 308.65 per share after reports said that its 34.56 crore shares -- or 21.5 per cent of total equity -- exchanged hands in 27 large trades. IndusInd Bank was down by 3.7 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank by 3.5 per cent and Axis Bank by 2.9 per cent. Sensex Ends 429 Points Higher at 35,843, Nifty Settles at 10,550; IT, Auto Stocks Lead Rally.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries lost by 2.9 per cent to close the day at Rs 2,007.20 per share. The other prominent losers were UPL, HDFC Life, ONGC and GAIL.

However, Tata Motors surged by 6.9 per cent to Rs 111.90 per share while Eicher Motors was up 0.9 per cent. Tata Steel along with HCL Technologies, Titan, Dr Reddy's and Wipro too traded with a positive bias. Meanwhile, Asian share markets were mixed as US lawmakers struggled to hammer out a new stimulus plan amid a global surge of new coronavirus cases.

Japan's Nikkei added gains of 2.24 per cent while Shanghai Composite moved up by 1.75 per cent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down by 0.56 per cent.