Indian benchmark indices extended their losses for the fifth consecutive session on Monday. The BSE Sensex closed 536.58 points lower at 36,305.02 while the Nifty 50 fell 168.20 points to settle at 10,974.90.
The market was dragged down mainly by finance stocks such as HDFC and Indiabulls Housing Finance, which fell up to 7%, while shares of non-banking finance companies nosedived due to fears of a liquidity crunch after IL&FS and its lending arm defaulted on a series of loan repayments, reported Mint.
Before markets opened on Monday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley assured that government will take measures to ensure adequate liquidity for NBFCs, mutual funds, and small and medium enterprise. The Reserve Bank of India and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India on Sunday they were closely monitoring the developments in the financial sector and were ready to take “appropriate actions” to allay fears of concerned investors.
Tata Consultancy Services was the top gainer on both indices. On the Sensex, Coal India, Infosys, Reliance and NTPC were among the major gainers while HDFC, Mahindra, Indibulls Hosuing Finance and IndusInd Bank were among the top losers.
Coal India, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were the gainers on Nifty 50, while Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC saw their stocks decline.
Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation rebounded nearly 25% after the company stated that it had not defaulted on any bonds or repayment nor had there been any instance of delay on repayment of any liability, PTI reported. The company’s shares had plunged 42.43% in the previous session on Friday following massive selling over fears of a liquidity crisis.
The rupee closed at 72.63 against the dollar.
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