Sensex, Nifty down by nearly one per cent; LT Foods (Daawat) soars by nearly 16 per cent, Hathway tanks by five per cent

Selling continued to be witnessed in domestic markets as Sensex declined by 335.06 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 37,736.07 while Nifty fell by 100.70 points or 0.90 per cent to close at 11,102.15.

Indices in global markets remained mixed despite the Federal Reserve emphasizing that it would continue to maintain its highly accommodative policy of near-zero rates and asset purchases. In Asian markets, indices such as Shanghai index, Hang Seng and Nikkei declined by 0.23 per cent, 0.69 per cent and 0.26 per cent respectively whereas KOSPI gained by mere 0.17 per cent. In European markets, FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 dropped by 1.61 per cent, 2.35 per cent and 1.19 per cent respectively.

Ahead of its earnings announcement, shares of SBI declined by 2.43 per cent. Indian rupee ended lower at 74.85 per dollar amid selling seen in the domestic equity market.

According to a World Gold Council (WGC) report, the overall gold demand during April-June period fell to 1,015.7 tonne from 1,136.9 tonne for the same period a year ago owing to the lockdown implemented in many countries to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In the Sensex basket, eight stocks advanced while 22 declined. Sensex gainers consisted of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rallying by 3.44 per cent, Maruti Suzuki increasing by 1.29 per cent, Infosys gaining by 0.84 per cent, RIL rising by 0.61 per cent, HCL Technologies increasing by 0.30 per cent, Titan company up by 0.21 per cent, etc. Sensex losers included IndusInd Bank dropping by 5.62 per cent, HDFC falling by 3.64 per cent, Axis Bank decreasing by 3.41 per cent, Power Grid declining by 2.64 per cent, SBI dipping by 2.43 per cent, Baja Finserv down by 2.42 per cent, etc.

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, Telecom index was the biggest loser, down by 2.25 per cent, followed by Oil & Gas index declining by 2.20 per cent while on the other hand, Healthcare index was the biggest gainer, up by 2.01 per cent. Apart from Healthcare index, IT index and Teck index were the only sectoral indices to close in green on BSE, increasing by 0.64 per cent and 0.07 per cent respectively. BSE small-cap index and BSE mid-cap index ended in the negative territory, declining by 0.43 per cent and 0.38 per cent respectively.