Indian shares plummeted on Monday, as COVID-19 cases rose again and government data showed retail inflation hit a three-month high in February.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.67% at 14,929.50, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.78% at 50,395.08. Both indices fell by 1.9% and 1.96% respectively in the first session.
India is witnessing a fresh rise in COVID-19 cases, mainly due to infection in Maharashtra. The country reported the largest daily increase of this year on Monday at 26,291 cases. India is the third most affected country behind the United States and Brazil with 11.39 million cases. Government data after market hours on Friday showed retail inflation accelerated to 5.03% in February on higher inflation prices, which could challenge the central bank’s adjustment stance. Core inflation was estimated in the range of 5.61% –5.9% by four economists.
In domestic business, financial stocks had the most stretch. Nifty Bank Index and Nifty Financial Services Index shed 0.88% and 1.24% respectively. HDFC Bank topped the Nifty 50 with a fall of 1.5%.
Information technology stocks provided some support to key indices in a later session, which helped them recover some of the losses. Tech Mahindra gained 2.3% with the Nifty IT index gaining 0.56% and the Nifty 50 getting the biggest boost.
Global shares were trading higher, as investors bet on a rapid economic recovery after signing a $ 1.9 trillion US stimulus bill into law last week.
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