Wall Street’s main indices tumbled to their lowest in nearly seven weeks on Monday, with the Dow shedding as much as 900 points, as worries about fresh coronavirus-driven lockdowns spilled over from Europe. Back home, the Sensex crashed 812 points, while the Nifty finished below the 11300-mark.
While the selloff was in line with global trends, investor wealth worth Rs 4.23 lakh crore was wiped off.
Investors were jittery following reports of Denmark, Greece and Spain imposing fresh restrictions on activities to tackle a surge in Covid-19 infections even as Britain was considering a second nation-wide lockdown.
The 30-share Sensex opened lower at 38812.69 and fell below the 38000-mark to hit a day’s low of 37938.53. It finally ended 811.68 points, or 2.09 per cent, lower at 38034,14, falling for the third straight session. The broader Nifty cracked 254.40 points, or 2.21 per cent, to finish at 11250.55.
“The markets sold off in a major way because of several factors such as reports about irregular financial dealings involving some of the major international banks and fears of a second-wave of pandemic in many parts of Europe. With the markets having run ahead of the economy, it is only probable that there will be higher level of volatility,’’ said Joseph Thomas, head of research, Emkay Wealth Management.
In the Sensex pack IndusInd Bank was the top loser as it fell 8.67 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, M&M, Maruti, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance. Only three stocks ended in the green -- Kotak Bank, Infosys and TCS, rising up to 0.86 per cent.
Meanwhile, shares of Route Mobile made a strong debut as they jumped 86 per cent at close of trade against its issue price of Rs 350. On the BSE, it got listed at Rs 708, reflecting a jump of 102.28 per cent from the issue price. During the day,it rose to a high of Rs 735, registering a gain of 110 per cent. It later closed at Rs 651.10, higher by 86 per cent.
