Equity benchmark ended Wednesday’s volatile session with Sensex dropping 97 points as investors remained cautious amid concerns over border tensions with China and the impact of spiking coronavirus on economic recovery.
In addition to this, potential second wave of the coronavirus pandemic along with the rising new cases in India also dented investors’ sentiments.
The S&P BSE Sensex briefly plunged 600.70 points during the day’s trade, but the 30-share index closed 97.30 points, or 0.29 per cent, lower at 33,507.92.
Sensex had hit an intra-day high of 33,933.66 and a low of 33,332.96.
The NSE Nifty too followed BSE Sensex’s trend and settled 32.85 points, or 0.33 per cent, down at 9,881.15. It touched a high of 10,003.60 and a low of 9,833.80 in the session.
Maruti Suzuki was the top gainer on the BSE chart as it rose by 4 per cent. It was followed by Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance
On the othe hand, Kotak Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by ITC, PowerGrid, M&M, HDFC, Asian Paints and NTPC.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth a net Rs 1,478.52 crore on Tuesday, provisional exchange data showed.
Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul ended on a positive note, while Tokyo settled in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in early deals.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.83 per cent to USD 40.62 per barrel.
On the currency front, the rupee settled 4 paise higher at 76.16 against the US dollar.