Domestic markets fell over 3 per cent on Monday as selloffs across financial stocks continued and the five-tranche 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced over the weekend failed to cheer investors, who were expecting government to infuse liquidity in the market to boost demand. Moreover, government’s decision to extend the nationwide lockdown to fourth phase till May 31, affected the sentiments of the market.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex 1,069 points to land at 30,028.98 mark. Similarly, NSE Nifty50 was down 313 points at 8,823.25, after opening higher at 9,158.30 compared to its previous close of 9,136.85.
Among the BSE top losers, IndusInd Bank, down by 10.02 per cent, was followed by Ultra Tech Cement, GDFC, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank were down from 7.59 per cent, 7.55 per cent, 7.55 per cent, 7.44 per cent respectively.
Whereas, the top gainers only included two firms, TCS, up by 2.72 per cent and Infosys 1.72 per cent high on the BSE charts.
Reliance Industries that announced its 1.34 per cent stake of Reliance Jio to US-General Atlantic was trading 1.25 per cent down on the BSE.
Traders and investors remained on edge as the Home Ministry extended the lockdown for another two weeks till May 31 to contain the spread of coronavirus, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi.
The relief package announcements appeared falling short of meeting market expectations on any demand side reforms, triggering an intense selloff in the domestic market, he noted.
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.
In the last set of measures, the centre on Sunday announced plans to privatise PSUs in non-strategic sectors and suspend loan default-triggered bankruptcy filings for one year, and also gave a Rs 40,000-crore hike in allocation for the rural employment guarantee scheme to provide jobs to migrant workers.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a positive note, while those in Europe were trading significantly higher in early deals.
International oil benchmark Brent crude futures surged 4.55 per cent to USD 33.98 per barrel.
Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 47.13 lakh and the death toll has topped 3.15 lakh.
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.
On the currency front, the rupee provisionally settled 33 paise lower at 75.91 against the US dollar.