Closing Bells: The Indian Benchmark Indices Closed Thursday Over 1.1% Lower

The Indian benchmark indices closed over 1.1% lower on Thursday amidst the growing concerns over the rising number of COVID-19 infections in the country and surging bond yields. The speculation of whether we are witnessing the second wave of infection in India has weighed in on the markets since the start of this week. 

The S&P BSE Sensex closed the day 1.17% or 585.10 points lower. It ended the day at the 49,216.52 levels. The trend was that only nine of the thirty stocks that form the Sensex index closed in the green, twenty-one closed in the negative terrain, while the remaining one stock closed the day nearly flat.

ITC, Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra emerged as the top gainers among the Sensex stocks. Their share price moved ahead by 3.25%, 2.46% and 1.03%, respectively. Maruti followed them, Bharti Airtel and ONGC, whose share price advanced by 0.72%, 0.60% and 0.55%, respectively. The other stocks to close higher were Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid and HDFC.

HCL Tech, Infosys and Dr Reddy’s were the top losers. They witnessed their share price go down by 3.97%, 3.67% and 3.34%, respectively. TCS, Tech Mahindra and Reliance followed as their share price tanked by 2.44%, 2.36% and 2.22%, respectively. 

The share price of NTPC, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Nestle India, Axis Bank and Bajaj Fiance fell over 1%. The other stocks to close in the red were Asian Paints, L&T, Hindustan Unilever, IndusInd Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, Titan and UltraTech Cement. 

The NSE Nifty 50 closed at 14,557.85 points. It gave up 163.45 points or 1.11% over the day. Only seventeen of the fifty stocks that form the Nifty index ended higher, while the remaining thirty-three of them ended the day lower. ITC and Bajaj Auto emerged as the top gainers, while Infosys and HCL Tech became the most significant losers. 

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at vineeth.nc@cleartax.in