Equities fall, Sensex ends below 35k as Covid cases rise

Mumbai

The Indian stock market declined on Monday, although the indices trimmed major losses by the end of the day's trade.

At the end of the session, BSE Sensex was down 209 points and had to settle below the psychological mark of 35,000 points. Earlier in the day, it lost as much as 509 points to touch an intra-day low of 34,662.06.

The fall was in line with the Asian markets, where investor sentiments weakened amid the resurgence in new Covid-19 cases.

Rahul Sharma, Market Strategist, Equity99 Advisors, said: "Selling pressure in metal, technology, auto and banking stocks dragged the markets down today. Traders refrained from building new positions on weak clues in other Asian markets."

He added that the rising number of Covid-19 casualties worldwide is hurting investor sentiments globally and no clarity of vaccine has also created nervousness in the markets.

Sensex closed at 34,961.52, lower by 209.75 points or 0.60 per cent from the previous close of 35,171.27.

It had opened at 34,926.95 and recorded an intra-day high of 35,032.36 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 10,312.40, lower by 70.60 points or 0.68 per cent from its previous close.

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank (up 1.97 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.30 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (up 1.27 per cent). On the other hand, the major losers were Axis Bank (down 4.78 per cent), Tech Mahindra (down 3.47 per cent) and State Bank of India (down 2.87 per cent).