Sensex slumps 200 points post SC order on AGR dues

Sensex on Friday opened higher and was trading firmly when Supreme Court ordered the telecom companies to deposit Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues worth Rs 1.47 lakh crore by March 17, 2020. Post the announcement, there was a sudden fall in the equity markets. Sensex slumped more than 202 points today and ended the trading session at 41,257.74 levels, down by 0.49 per cent while, Nifty closed at 12,113.45 levels, down by 0.50 per cent.

Besides, Supreme Court has also threatened the telecom companies with contempt proceedings if they fail to clear the government dues on time. Reacting to this, certain key stocks fell rapidly. The top five losers of S&P BSE Sensex are: IndusInd Bank-down by 4.38 per cent, Power Grid-down by 3.26 per cent, State Bank of India-down by 2.41 per cent, Hero MotoCorp-down by 2.24 per cent and NTPC-down by 2.00 per cent.

S&P BSE Mid-cap erased gains and closed the day at 15,662.10 levels, down by 0.79 per cent while, S&P BSE Small-cap too close in red at 14,682.65 levels, down by 0.40 per cent. The top three losers of small-cap stocks are: Eris Lifesciences-down by 11.06 per cent, Sanwaria Agro Oils- down by 9.90 per cent and IFCI-down by 9.40 per cent.

S&P BSE Utilities, S&P BSE Power and S&P BSE Metal are the top three losing sectoral indices today, which are down by 2.58 per cent, 2.31 per cent and 1.48 per cent, respectively.