Sensex plunges 870 points as Covid spike hits Dalal Street

Mumbai, April 5

Equity benchmarks wilted under widespread selling on Monday as a record single-day jump in Covid cases in the country unnerved investors and fanned fears over the economic recovery.

A sharp plunge in the rupee added to the concerns, traders said. After plunging over 1,400 points earlier in the day, the Sensex pared some losses to finish at 49,159.32, down 870.51 points. Similarly, the Nifty sank 229.55 points to 14,637.80.

Bajaj Finance was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, plunging 5.81%, followed by IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and ICICI Bank.

IT stocks stood tall amid the carnage, with HCL Tech leading the gainers’ chart with a jump of 3.08%.

TCS, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra were the other winners, gaining up to 2.32%.

India recorded an all-time high of 1,03,558 coronavirus infections in a day, pushing the nationwide Covid tally to 1,25,89,067, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The single-day rise in cases surpassed the earlier peak of 97,894 infections reported on September 17 last year, making it the highest since the pandemic began. — PTI