INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Market updates today: Sensex fell as much as 1,811 points.The Indian equity benchmarks crashed on Monday as rising Covid-19 cases in the
country stoked fears of lockdowns
The Sensex dropped as much as 1,811 points or 3.65 per cent to hit an intraday low of 47,780 and Nifty 50 index tumbled below its important
psychological level of 14,300 at the day's lowest level
All but two shares in the Nifty 50 basket were trading with a negative bias.As of 12:55 pm, the Sensex fell 1,689 points to 47,902 and Nifty
50 index dropped 506 points or 3.41 per cent to 14,328.India reported a record daily tally of 168,912 COVID-19 infections on Monday, the
world's highest, while worries grew over a further spike, as hundreds of thousands of devotees gathered for a ritual bath in the Ganges
river.India now accounts for one in every six daily infections worldwide
Monday's new cases carried it past Brazil, for an overall tally of 13.53 million, data compiled by Reuters shows, placing it second after
the United States, with 31.2 million.Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state with 63,294 new cases and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours
The state government is likely to take a call on announcing a complete lockdown in the state this week.Relentless surge in coronavirus cases
is threatening to derail a recovery in Asia's third-largest economy.Meanwhile, selling pressure was so intense that all the 11 sector
gauges, barring the index of drug makers, compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's over
Nifty Realty, Private Bank, Auto, Bank, Metal and media indices also fall between 5-7 per cent.Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing
selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped 5.5 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 5.4 per cent.Reliance Industries, HDFC
Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top drags on the Sensex.IndusInd Bank was top
Nifty loser, the stock fell 7 per cent to Rs 860
State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports, UPL, Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Indian Oil, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hero MotoCorp
and Axis Bank were among the notable losers.On the flipside, Cipla, Divi's Labs and Dr Reddy's Labs were among the notable gainers.The
overall market breadth was extremely bearish as 2,409 shares were declining while 416 were advancing on the BSE.
