Sensex down by nearly 100 points; RIL-owned businesses rally

Shifting between gains and losses during today's trading session, domestic benchmark index Nifty fell by 32.85 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 9,881.15 while Sensex closed down by 97.30 points or 0.29 per cent at 33,507.92 as investors remained cautious with the escalation in tensions over the India-China border.

Business sentiments within Asian companies continue to be negative with many flagging the worsening COVID-19 pandemic as the biggest risk over the next six months. Still, the Asian indices portrayed a mixed outlook as investors remain cautious yet continue to believe in swift economic revival. Indices such as KOSPI and Shanghai both rose by 0.14 per cent each while Hang Seng gained by 0.56 per cent. Contrarily, Nikkei decreased by 0.56 per cent.

With hopes of a swift rebound from the COVID-19-led economic slump gaining traction even as China effected travel bans to contain a potential second wave of COVID-19 cases, European shares opened higher with FTSE 100, DAX and CAC40 trading up by 0.75 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.35 per cent respectively.

Navin Fluorine International's shares soared by 6 per cent after the company reported a significant surge in its consolidated net profit for Q4FY20. The company's sales rose 9.5 per cent YoY to Rs 276.57 crore in Q4FY20 as against Rs 252.58 crore posted during Q4FY19.

Sensex winners consisted of Maruti Suzuki soaring by 4.15 per cent, Bharti Airtel rallying by 3.43 per cent, Axis Bank rising by 2.10 per cent, IndusInd Bank increasing by 2.08 per cent, Bajaj Finance which went up by 1.31 per cent, ONGC up by 0.48 per cent, etc. Sensex losers included Kotak Mahindra Bank dropping by 2.81 percent, ITC which fell by 1.97 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra declining by 1.85 per cent, Power Grid decreasing by 1.82 per cent, HDFC which fell by 1.58 per cent, etc.

Amidst BSE sectoral indices, Telecom index is the biggest gainer, up by 2.35 per cent whereas Power index is the biggest loser, down by 1.05 per cent. The broader markets outperformed domestic benchmark indices as BSE small-cap index gained by 0.71 per cent while BSE mid-cap index increased by 0.32 per cent.