Benchmark index BSE Sensex crashed over 1,700 points on Monday, as sentiment in the equity markets remained subdued due to the continuous rise in coronavirus cases in the country.
The index fell 3.44%, or 1,707.94 points, to end at 47,883.38. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty lost 3.53%, or 524.05 points, to close at 14,310.80.
Meanwhile, the rupee too, continued its decline, settling 32 paise down at 75.05 against the US dollar, reported PTI. The rupee fell for the sixth straight session and has seen depreciation of 193 paise.
“Indian rupee spot slipped past the 75-mark to nine-month low of 75.15 on Monday as rising Covid-19 cases sparked fears of a complete lockdown in Maharashtra and a few other states, dampening hopes of a faster recovery and increasing prospects of RBI’s ultra-loose monetary policy for a longer period,” Kaynat Chainwala, fundamental research analyst of currencies at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, told the news agency.
All sectoral sub-indices faced losses. The Nifty Bank, Auto, Media and Realty sub-indices closed below 5%.
The markets had suffered heavy losses last Monday too, when the country saw the single-day rise in coronavirus cases going past the 1 lakh-mark for the first time. The Sensex had then slipped by up to 1,450 points in intra-day trade before settling at 49,159.32, a decline of 870.51 points from the previous closing mark. Since then, however, the number of daily cases have breached the 1 lakh-mark on six out of seven days, registering new peaks on each of those occasions. The Sensex has lost over 1,000 points since last Monday.
Minutes before the market opened on Monday, India reported 1,68,912 new cases of coronavirus, as the number of active cases rose by nearly a lakh from Sunday’s tally.
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