All round selling pulled down market … US Future climbed up over 1% … India Vix surges 5%
· Equity benchmark Sensex plunged over 800 points in opening session on Monday dragged by losses in banking stocks as the government's fiscal stimulus package failed to revive confidence in domestic investors.
· After hitting a low of 30,265.67, the 30-share index was trading 731.91 points or 2.35 per cent lower at 30,365.82. Similarly, NSE Nifty slumped 226.90 points, or 2.48 per cent, to 8,909.95. India Vix surged 5% to 40.
· ICICI Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, cracking around 6 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Titan, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid and ONGC. On the other hand, Infosys and TCS were trading with gains.
· Doubts over the effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus package, extension of the nationwide lockdown and spike in COVID- 19 cases in the country weighed on investor sentiment.
The government, in its first four tranches of the stimulus package, focussed on credit line to small businesses and new fund creations to be shouldered by banks and financial institutions with very little extra budget spending.
· Further, the government last night extended the lockdown for two more weeks with the fourth phase providing more relaxations outside the containment zones.
· Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in India spiked to 96,169, while the death toll rose to 3,029, according to the health ministry. Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 47.13 lakh and the death toll has topped 3.15 lakh.
· Among the global bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading on a positive note.
· Partial recovery may not be ruled out as US Future and European Future climbed up over 1%
· Abnormal volumes – Reliance Industries, Mcdowell and Cipla
