Sensex sinks over 850 points as surging coronavirus cases spook investors; Nifty drops below 14,300

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark sensex dropped over 850 points in late noon deals trade on Thursday, dragged by losses in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank amid foreign fund outflow and a weak trend in global markets.
The 30-share BSE index was trading 859 points or 1.75 per cent lower at 48,322, and the broader NSE Nifty declined 269 points or 1.85 per cent to 14,280.
IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Maruti, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank.
Shares of financial and technology companies fell on concerns over the possibility of fresh restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus cases.
India's daily Covid-19 cases hit a five-month high and the country put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shot made by the Serum Institute of India to meet domestic demand.
"The market is definitely worried about the impact of the spread of Covid-19. There would be an economic impact and there are fears over a partial lockdown," KK Mittal, an investment adviser at Venus India, told news agency Reuters.
Analysts also expect huge volatility in markets ahead of the monthly expiry of derivatives.
Selling in the Nifty bank index, which has fallen more than 5% this month, has been a major pain point for domestic markets despite a major relief to the sector this week after the Supreme Court rejected pleas for extending moratorium on bank loan repayments, analysts said.
In the previous session, the sensex ended 871 points or 1.74 per cent lower at 49,180, and the Nifty declined 265 points or 1.79 per cent to 14,549.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,951.90 crore, as per exchange data.
"The uncertainty in the market continues with increasing risk arising from the second wave of Covid-19 attack in India in the context of a third wave in parts of Europe," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told PTI.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red in mid-session deals, while Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note.
Top bourses on Wall Street ended with significant losses in overnight trade.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.41 per cent lower at $63.50 per barrel.