Sensex Makes a Poor Start to the Week, Drops Nearly 6%

The Indian stock markets did not start the week on a good note as both S&P BSE Sensex, and NSE NIifty 50 tanked nearly 6% each. The losses in the market are attributed to yet another extension of the countrywide lockdown until 17th of May. This weighed in on the markets as investor sentiment was down.

VIX (volatility index) has shot up nearly 28% to touch the 43.7 levels. The NSE Nifty 50 closed Monday at 9,293.50 points, down by 5.74% or 566.40 points. All sectoral indices apart from Nifty Pharma ended in the red. The Nifty Metal index dropped to 1,714 levels, losing 7.86% while the Nifty Bank index lost 8% or 1,791 points to close at 19,744 levels. 

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 5.94% or 2002.27 points to close the day 31,715 levels. 28 of the 30 Sensex stocks ended in negative territory. The losses in the index were led by the stocks of HDFC (7.8%), IndusInd Bank (9.6%), Bajaj Finance (9.9%), and ICICI Bank (11%). The losses in the BSE market today have eroded nearly Rs 5.8 trillion of investors’ wealth. 

Also Read: Indian Benchmark Indices End the Week in the Red

Among the broader markets, the S&P MidCap index dropped nearly 4% or 511 points to end the day at 11,502.59 points, and the S7P BSE SmallCap index stumbled to drop more than 3% to close Monday at 10,753.58 points. 

Coming to the global markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan collapsed nearly 2.5%. The drop is attributed to Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which returned from a holiday of two sessions to record its highest fall in six weeks. 

Among the commodities market, the oil prices collapsed, neutralising the gains that were recorded in the last week. The fall in the oil prices has come on the back of weak demand and tensions over the US-China trade war. 

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