Sensex tumbles 871 points; Nifty tanks below 14,650

Bajaj Finance was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, plunging around 6%, followed by IndusInd Bank

Equity benchmark Sensex tanked 871 points on Monday, dragged by a selloff in financial stocks as spiking Covid-19 cases spooked investors and fanned concerns over economic recovery.

After plunging over 1,400 points earlier in the day, the 30-share BSE index pared some losses to finish at 49,159.32, down 870.51 points or 1.74 per cent. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty sank 229.55 points or 1.54 per cent to 14,637.80.

Bajaj Finance was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, plunging around 6 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, SBI, M&M, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, HCL Tech, TCS and Infosys were among the gainers.

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"The market witnessed a huge sell-off today as India's second wave of Covid-19 is getting bigger than anticipated and is expected to ruin the pace of economic recovery. High valuation added further concern due to a possible downgrade in Q1FY22 earnings," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

A policy decision in the upcoming MPC announcement and Q4 earnings will define the market volatility in the coming days, he added.

The rise in Covid-19 cases in India is a sobering reminder that challenges to recovery still remain, said Lalitabh Srivastava, AVP research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

The provisional numbers of key banks indicate a consolidating trend in terms of advances growth but encouraging performance on deposit and CASA front, he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Seoul and Tokyo ended on a positive note. Markets in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Australia were closed for holidays.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also closed.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 2.20 per cent lower at USD 63.43 per barrel.