Sensex falls by 469.60 points, Nifty follows by 118.05 points

Stocks markets begin the week on a weaker note as Sensex drops by 1.51 per cent, which is 469.60 points to the level of 30,690.02. Nifty also declined by 1.30 per cent, which is 118.05 points to the level of 8,993.85.

As the depth of uncertainty around COVID-19 remains to be unknown, the markets continued to experience volatility. A weak performance by the bank and auto stocks dragged the markets down whereas, the shares of pharmaceutical companies continued to rally. Additionally, everyone is waiting for the news of probable extension of the lockdown in India, which will be confirmed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation on Tuesday i.e. April 14, 2020. On Sunday, via video conferencing, OPEC producers and allies have agreed on a record oil deal that will slash global output by about 10 per cent after a slump in demand was seen, which was caused by Coronavirus lockdown. This resulted in a slight rise of oil prices. As investors brace for more expected damage from COVID-19 pandemic, global indices were also seen trading in red. Shanghai index fell by 0.49, Nikkei dropped by 2.33 per cent and KOSPI closed down by 1.88 per cent. On account of Easter Monday, European exchanges remain closed today.  

Sensex gainers made up of Larsen & Toubro gained 6.57 per cent on the announcement of receiving a huge deal, followed by Bharti Airtel which went up by 4.64 per cent, IndusInd Bank was up by 3.76 per cent, UltraTech Cement-up by 3.57 per cent, NTPC up by 1.84 per cent, etc.

Sensex draggers consisted of Bajaj Finance, which registered a fall of 10.27 per cent followed by Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.80 per cent, Titan fell by 4.73 per cent, Hero MotoCorp dropped by 3.86 per cent, ICICI Bank fell by 3.44 per cent, HDFC Bank fell by 3.12 per cent, SBI fell by 2.21 per cent, etc.

Healthcare index was seen hitting a fresh 52-week high on BSE on the back of positive developments in the sector. Bankex index fell by 2.14 per cent while, Auto was down by 2.29 per cent. The hardest hit was Realty index that was down by 4.92 per cent. Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices registered a slight fall of 0.93 and 0.46 per cent, respectively.