Sensex sees a big fall, slumps 984 points, Nifty ends below 14,650; financial stocks lead sell off

Snapping its four-session winning run, market benchmark Sensex plummeted 984 points on Friday, tracking an intense selloff in financial stocks amid a negative trend in Asian equities.
The 30-share BSE index sank 983.58 points or 1.98 percent to finish at 48,782.36.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tanked 263.80 points or 1.77 percent to 14,631.10.

HDFC twins were the top losers in the Sensex pack, shedding over 4 percent, followed by ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, M&M, HUL, TCS, and Maruti.

On the other hand, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Dr. Reddy, and Bajaj Auto were the gainers.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities fell sharply on weak global cues and heavy sell-off in financial stocks. Asian markets traded weak on emerging concerns about growth after China's factory activity expanded slower than expected in April.

Barring pharma, metals, and IT, most of the key sectoral indices saw selling pressure.

"Persistent rise in daily caseload and higher number of deaths continue to remain a matter of concern for central and state governments and therefore any possibility of further economic restrictions cannot be ruled out by the state governments. The market is expected to be volatile until we see a clear reversal in COVID-19 cases," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo ended on a negative note.

Bourses in Europe were trading with marginal gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.31 percent lower at USD 67.15 per barrel.