India's equity markets fell the most in more than a month as the record surge in coronavirus cases brought back fears of strict lockdowns, wiping Rs 8 lakh crore off investor wealth in a day.
The S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 1,707 points or 3.44% to 47,883, while the NSE Nifty 50 index slipped more than 500 points or 3.5% to end at 14,310. Both Sensex and Nifty fell to their lowest level in more than two months. 46 out of the 50 Nifty constituents fell.
India's active coronavirus cases crossed the 12 lakh mark for the first time ever on Monday after more than 1.7 lakh people tested positive over the last 24 hours. This was the second straight day of the country reporting over 1.5 lakh new infections.
"Domestic equities today reminded of the sell-off of March 2020 as a record rise in Covid-19 cases in the country and possibility of lockdowns in several states dented investors' sentiment," Binod Modi, head of strategy at Reliance Securities told BloombergQuint in an emailed statement.
The fall in broader markets was steeper than the benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap index fell 5.7%, the most in over a year, while the Smallcap index declined 5.6%, the most in more than a year.
All sectoral indices ended the day with losses; most saw the biggest single-day drop since May last year. The PSU Bank index was the top sectoral laggard, ending 9.3% lower, followed by Nifty Media (down 8.1%), Nifty Realty (down 7.5%), Nifty Metal (down 6.1%), and Nifty Auto (over 5%).
The FMCG and pharma indices, however, reported gains. All constituents of all other sector indices ended lower. Among Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices, 98 of their 100 stocks declined for each.
"Nifty turned up today from 14,249, making a near double bottom with 14,264, made on March 25, 2021. A breach of this level could lead to more weakness in the near term," according to Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities. Jasani expects 14,460-14,574 to be a resistance for the index in the near-term. "While sentimentally there is little to expect in terms of bounces, some positive news on the Covid or its vaccination front could provide a respite, howsoever temporary."
The markets may take cues from news reports that the government has granted emergency use authorisation to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
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