3,86,452 new Covid infections get recorded in 24 hours; rupee opened on a flat note and edged lower by 5 paise
Market benchmark Sensex plunged over 400 points in early trade on Friday after four consecutive days of gains. India’s Covid situation worsens as 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections get recorded in 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,87,62,976. The death toll increased to 2,08,330 with 3,498 new fatalities
The equity benchmark tracked losses in index-heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank amid a negative trend in Asian equities.
The 30-share BSE index tumbled 424.70 points or 0.85 per cent to 49,341.24 in initial deals.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 117.65 points or 0.79 per cent to 14,777.25.
HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Kotak Bank and SBI.
On the other hand, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma and Infosys were the gainers.
In the previous session, Sensex finished 32.10 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 49,765.94, and Nifty advanced 30.35 points or 0.20 per cent to 14,894.90.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 809.37 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 942.35 crore, according to provisional exchange data.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, spiking COVID tells us that the light at the end of the tunnel, which the market is focussed on, is a long way away. But the market is taking cues from the second wave experience of other countries where the curve flattened and fell in around two months.
"This explains the resilience of the market amid very negative Covid-related news. An important point to be understood is that global markets are highly correlated, and therefore, a major correction is likely to be global," he stated.
Registering a steady increase, the active Covid cases have increased to 31,70,228 comprising 16.90 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 81.99 per cent.
The Indian rupee opened on a flat note and edged lower by 5 paise to 74.12 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, amid a lacklustre trend in the domestic equity market.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.
Bourses on Wall Street ended with gains in overnight sessions.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.44 per cent higher at $67.75 per barrel.