Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Mar 28: After opening higher on Monday, the Indian market indexes fell shortly after, led by banking and financial stocks. As the coronavirus lockdown in Shanghai appeared to be affecting worldwide activity, Asian stocks fell.
Brent declined $3.26 to $117.39 due to the spread of curbs in China, the world’s largest oil importer, while U.S. crude fell $3.37 to $110.53. Investors were particularly on edge due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
In India, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 404 points, or 0.70 percent, to 56,958, while the broader NSE Nifty dropped 108 points, or 0.63 percent, to 17,045 at 10:14 a.m.
Mid- and small-cap stocks traded in a mixed bag, with the Nifty Midcap 100 gaining 0.03 percent and small-cap stocks losing 0.31 percent.
The National Stock Exchange’s 15 sector indicators were trading in the red, with nine of them in the red. Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank both underperformed the index, falling by 1.12% and 0.94 percent, respectively.
On a stock-by-stock basis, the highest Nifty loss was HDFC Bank, which fell 1.84 percent to Rs.1,404.55. The laggards included Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, HDFC Life, and UPL.
On the BSE, however, the overall market breadth was modest, with 1,103 shares rising and 1,738 falling.
The HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, Dr Reddy’s, SBI, and Bajaj Finserv were among the top losers on the 30-share BSE index.
Maruti, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, ITC, Tata Steel, and Sun Pharma, on the other hand, were trading in the green.
In addition, following announcing a merger, PVR and INOX Leisure’s stock soared.
On Friday, the Sensex fell 233 points, or 0.41 percent, to conclude at 57,362, while the Nifty fell 70 points, or 0.40 percent, to 17,153.
