Domestic equity benchmark Sensex plunged over 600 points in the opening session on Friday tracking a massive selloff in global equities. A fast rise in Covid-19 cases and further contraction in services output is also keeping investors worried.
The 30-share BSE index was trading 615.70 points or 1.58 per cent lower at 38,375.24; while the NSE Nifty crashed 170.40 points or 1.48 per cent at 11,357.05.
Investors lost Rs 2.12 lakh crore within minutes, as the market cap of BSE-listed stocks fell to Rs 154.85 lakh crore. On Thursday, the market cap was at Rs 156.86 lakh crore.
SBI was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins and HCL Tech.
On the other hand, Maruti was the sole gainer.
In the previous session, Sensex ended 95.09 points or 0.24 per cent lower at 38,990.94; and the NSE Nifty closed 7.55 points or 0.07 per cent down at 11,527.45.
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 7.72 crore on a net basis on Thursday.
According to traders, domestic equities followed the massive selloff in global equities.
Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended with heavy losses in overnight sessions led by carnage in technology stocks with Apple shares plunging around 8 per cent. Following suit, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with over 1 per cent losses in mid-session deals.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.98 per cent lower at $43.64 per barrel.
(WIth PTI inputs)
