Sensex & Nifty bleed; Hindustan Copper gains 14 per cent, Vivimed Labs locks in at upper circuit, SBI tumbles

The domestic markets crashed on Monday as Sensex fell by 1,145.44 points or by 2.25 per cent to settle at 49,744.32 levels while Nifty tumbled 306.05 points or 2.04 per cent to close at 14,675.70 levels.  

Today’s crash was the biggest fall that Sensex had witnessed in the last two months. An increase in the number of Coronavirus cases and a possibility of lockdown triggered fear among investors. Most of them preferred to book profits from the recent market rallies before the economy gets engulfed by another wave of uncertainty as restrictions are being implemented to curb the spread of Coronavirus.   

The metal stocks gained on Monday as copper prices rose with a positive demand growth outlook.  

Meanwhile, India VIX, the volatility index surged 15 per cent.   

In the global markets, Asian indices such as Shanghai Composite index, Hang Seng, and KOSPI declined by 1.45 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 0.90 per cent, respectively whereas, Nikkei rose by 0.46 per cent. European indices such as FTSE 100, DAX, and CAC 40 were trading down by 0.55 per cent, 0.53 per cent, and 0.54 per cent, respectively.  

Sensex gainers included ONGC that gained 1.14 per cent, HDFC Bank rose by 0.64 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank increased by 0.23 per cent.   

Sensex draggers were made up of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories that plunged 4.77 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra fell by 4.51 per cent, Tech Mahindra slumped 4.42 per cent, IndusInd Bank declined by 4.25 per cent, Axis Bank went down by 3.96 per cent, TCS inched lower by 3.69 per cent, etc.  

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, the metal index was the biggest gainer, up by 2.24 per cent while the energy index was the biggest loser that declined by 2.92 per cent. BSE IT index fell by 2.58 per cent, followed by BSE Healthcare and BSE Auto indices that decreased by 1.97 per cent and 2.30 per cent, respectively.    

In the broader markets, BSE Small-Cap index tumbled 1.01 per cent while BSE Mid-Cap index declined by 1.34 per cent.