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The Indian equity benchmarks faced heavy selling pressure on Monday and fell for fifth session in a row on the back of a broad-based selling pressure as investors locked in profits in high-flying stocks, while news of fresh COVID-19 restrictions in parts of the country also weighed on sentiment. The benchmarks opened lower and extended losses dragged by selling pressure in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, ITC and Axis Bank. The Sensex fell as much as 1,272 points and Nifty 50 index dropped as much as 347 points to touch an intraday low of 14,635.
The Sensex dropped 1,145 points or 2.25 per cent to close at 49,744 and Nifty 50 index tumbled 2 per cent or 306 points to settle at 14,676.
COVID-19 outbreak has slowed sharply since daily cases hit a peak in September, but a resurgence in infections in Maharashtra has forced fresh restrictions and spurred fears of a second wave of the disease.
Reliance Industries was top drag on the Sensex, the stock fell nearly 3 per cent to Rs 2,022 after the Supreme Court barred on Monday a final ruling by a tribunal reviewing Future Group’s $3.4 billion sale of retail assets until the top court hears objections from aggrieved partner Amazon.com Inc, news agency Reuters reported citing three sources..
Amazon appealed to the Supreme Court this month against Future Group’s sale to market leader Reliance Industries, accusing its partner of violating contracts by agreeing to the sale.
Reliance Industries alone wiped out over 200 points from the Sensex, data from BSE showed.
Eicher Motors was top Nifty loser, the stock dropped 5 per cent to Rs 2,453. Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, SBI Life, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, HDFC and Tata Motors also between 3-5 per cent.
On the flipside, metal shares outperformed in an otherwise weak session after copper prices topped $9,000 for first time in 10 year. Hindalco, JSW Steel and Tata Steel rose between 3-3.5 per cent.
Adani Ports, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp and Grasim Industries were also among the notable gainers.
All the 11 sector gauges barring the index of metal shares ended lower led by the Nifty Media index’s over 3 per cent fall. Nifty PSU Bank, Private Bank, IT, Pharma, Realty, Auto and Bank indices dropped between 1.5-3 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indexes dropped over a per cent each.
The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 1,984 shares ended lower while 1,038 closed lower on the BSE.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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