The Indian benchmark indices have made a horrendous start to the week as both Nifty and Sensex shed close 2.25% each to mark the end of Monday’s trading hours. The losses in the indices are attributed to the ever-rising COVID-19 infection, geopolitical tensions between India and China, and profit bookings in some sectors.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost 2.13% or 839.02 points. It closed at 38,628.29 points. The losses in the index are majorly due to the anticipation of the announcement of the GDP numbers for the Q1, which is expected to be in deep red due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, the escalating border tensions between the Indian Chinese and Indian military troops in the eastern Ladhak region has had a direct bearing on the markets today. The markets witnessed intense selloff as the investors started booking their profits after rallying for more than two months. The amendments made to the margin trading did not help the markets either.
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Among the 30 stocks that constitute the Sensex index, only two advanced. That speaks of the kind of day the markets witnessed today. Sun Pharma emerged as the top loser by shedding as much as 6.71% over the day. It was followed by SBI, whose share price dropped by 5.65%. ONGC, TCS, and HDFC turned out to be the only stocks that closed Monday in the green. They gained 2.18%, 0.86%, and 0.02% respectively.
The NSE Nifty 50 closed Monday at 11,387.50 points. It lost 2.23% or 260.10 points. Only two of the fifty stocks that form the Nifty index closed in green. The traders and analysts are now eagerly waiting for the announcement of the GDP numbers for the Q1, and that is expected to dictate the market movements this week. India VIX, the volatility gauge, shot up as much as 24.46% or 4.49 points to close Monday at the 22.84 levels.
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Engineer by qualification, financial writer by choice. I am always open to learning new things.
