National stock markets gave up all their intraday gains in a volatile session on Monday, ahead of the release of official data on the country’s GDP for the April-June period amid growing geopolitical tensions between India and China. The S&P BSE Sensex Index fell to 1,240 points from a six-month high of 40,010.17 to fall below the 39,000 mark. The benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index fell below 11,450 at the weakest level of the day, having risen to 11,794.25.
At 1:21 p.m., the Sensex fell 620 points to 38,860 and Nifty fell 1.7 percent or 200 points to 11,446.
Earlier in the day, both indices had staged gap-up openings as investors applauded the government’s move to further ease restrictions related to the pandemic. However, the momentum was short-lived.
India is likely entering its deepest recession on record, which is expected to last into the second half of the fiscal year, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect demand, making it difficult for activity to pick up. economic and business.
In a major outbreak in Ladakh, Chinese troops “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” near Pangong Tso Lake on Saturday night, but were blocked by Indian soldiers, the government said on Friday. The events occurred during the night between August 29 and 30, according to an Army statement.
“Markets were overbought and at euphoric levels. Rising geopolitical tensions between India and China after Indian soldiers blocked Chinese troops near Pangong Tso Lake and reports that India’s economic growth will be the worst among the G20 nations are scaring investor sentiment, “AK Prahakar, head of research at IDBI Capital, told NDTV.
Meanwhile, the selling pressure was visible in all sectors, as the 19 sector indicators compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the banking and capital goods indices with a fall of more than 3%.
Shares of automobiles, pharmaceuticals, information technology, consumer durables, metals, energy, oil and gas, and real estate also fell 2 to 4 percent.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were also facing intense selling pressure. The S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap indices fell more than 3%.
IndusInd Bank was Nifty’s biggest loser, down over 4% to Rs 636. Zee Entertainment, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki , Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra also fell between 1.6% and 3.2% each.
On the other hand, Reliance Industries rose nearly 1 percent after the company agreed on Saturday to buy Future Group’s retail and other businesses for $ 3.38 billion. Shares of Future Enterprises were up about 5 percent. ONGC, Bharti Infratel, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports and tech Mahindra were also among the winners.
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