Looming Covid scare haunts markets, rupee slips marginally against dollar
A slump in major stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries weighed on the market and the equity benchmark Sensex opened the day 150 points down. The 30-share BSE index was trading 186.94 points or 0.38 per cent lower at 49,559.27 in the opening trade, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 44.10 points or 0.30 per cent to 14,829.70.
Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, HUL, Sun Pharma, ITC, ONGC, PowerGrid and SBI were among the gainers.
Sensex had settled 84.45 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 49,746.21 at the close on Thursday, and Nifty advanced 54.75 points or 0.37 per cent to 14,873.80. Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 110.85 crore.
“Surging Covid-19 cases have become an area of serious concern. Unless this second wave peaks soon and subsides, economic activities will be impacted and the market assumptions of above 10 per cent GDP growth and above 30 per cent earnings growth will be challenged,” says VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “This major uncertainty will weigh on market sentiments for some time.”
India registered a single-day rise of 1,31,968 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. The outbreak of the second wave has claimed 780 lives so far, pushing India’s death toll to 1,67,642 in the last one year.
The rupee too opened marginally lower against the US dollar at 74.65 as against 74.60 in the previous session, The INR had risen to 74.20 earlier in the session on the back of an upbeat risk appetite and exporters’ dollar sales. Asian equities were higher, while futures pointed to new highs for the S&P 500 Index. “Technically, resistance for the USDINR Spot is 74.80-75.20 levels. Support is at 74.30-74.20 levels in coming session. The USDINR future could trade in a range of 74.50-75.10levels in today’s session,” says Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading in the red in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was trading with gains. Top stock exchanges on the Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight trade. The international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.03 per cent lower at $63.18 per barrel.