Sensex plunges 469.60 points, Nifty ends at 8993.85; L&T, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel major gainers

Image courtesy: Reuters

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices ended lower on Monday (April 13) with the Sensex down 469.60 points or 1.51% at 30690.02, while the broader Nifty also closed down 118.05 points or 1.30% at 8993.85. Major gainers on the Nifty were L&T, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, and Adani Ports while the top losers were Bajaj Finance, Zee Entertainment, Bajaj Finserv, and Titan Company.

Buying was witnessed in the metal, pharma and infra sectors, while the realty index fell 5 percent followed by auto, bank, energy, IT and FMCG. 

Prior to the close, benchmark indices were trading weak with the Sensex down 381.05 points or 1.22% at 30778.57, while the Nifty was also trading down 97.35 points or 1.07% at 9014.55. About 1080 shares advanced, 1125 shares declined, and 153 shares remained unchanged. 

In line with Asian peers with auto and realty stocks suffering deep losses, equity benchmark indices slipped by over 1.5 per cent during early hours on Monday (April 13) as the country braced for an extension of the 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Market sentiment was today hit with global crude oil prices jumping by more than one dollar a barrel after top producers agreed to their biggest-ever output cut. At 10:15 am, the BSE Sensex was down by 508 points or 1.63 per cent at 30,652 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 137 points or 1.5 per cent at 8,975. Except for Nifty pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty auto skidding by 4.6 per cent, realty by 4.2 per cent, financial service by 3.1 per cent and private bank by 2.8 per cent.

Among stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra dropped by 6.8 per cent to Rs 355.25 per share while Maruti lost by 5.9 per cent, Bajaj Auto by 4.6 per cent and Hero MotoCorp by 3.6 per cent. Bajaj Finance fell by 7.9 per cent, Bajaj Finserv by 4.8 per cent, Titan by 5 per cent, ONGC by 4.4 per cent and Axis Bank by 4.2 per cent, but .pharma majors Dr Reddy`s and Cipla gained by 2.2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. 

Meanwhile, global shares fell as investors looked for more signs of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. The Nikkei fell by 1.4 per cent while MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan slipped slightly, with South Korean shares falling by 0.9 per cent. Financial markets Hong Kong were closed while in mainland China, the CSI300 index lost by 0.6 per cent in early trade. 

A group of oil-producing countries known as OPEC+ which includes Russia said it had agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June after four days of marathon talks. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 4.29 per cent to USD 32.83 per barrel after Opec producers dominated by Saudi Arabia and allies led by Russia thrashed out a compromise deal on Sunday to cut production by nearly 10 million barrels per day from May.

(With Agency Inputs)