Markets, 26 November 2021: Sensex Dives Over 1,000 Points, Nifty Below 17,300

Barring pharma shares, all sectors were deep in the red in early morning trade; RIL, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and SBI were among the top drags on the Sensex

New Delhi: It's a Black Friday on Dalal Street. The key Indian equity benchmark, the BSE Sensex, plunged 1,049 points at 57,745 in early morning trade on Friday, while the NSE Nifty shed 280 points to test 17,250.

Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, and State Bank of India were among the top drags on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks suffered their sharpest drop in two months on Friday after the detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying toward the safety of bonds, the yen, and the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3 per cent, its sharpest drop since September. Casino and beverage shares sold off in Hong Kong, and travel stocks dropped in Sydney.

Japan’s Nikkei skidded 2.5 per cent and the US crude oil futures fell nearly 2 per cent as well amid fresh demand fears.

As of 10 am, the Sensex was down around 1,050 points at 57,745 and Nifty 50 index dipped 286 points or 1.63 per cent to 17,250.

Selling pressure was broad-based as thirteen of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Financial Services index's nearly 2 per cent fall. Nifty Metal, Media, Bank, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 1-1.9 per cent.

On the other hand, pharma and healthcare shares witnessing some buying interest.

Only two stocks, Dr Reddy’s Labs and Sun Pharma, were trading higher on the Sensex. All other 28 constituents were in the red dragged by Maruti Suzuki (down 2.5 per cent), Kotak Bank, HDFC, and Bajaj Finserv.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices dropped 1 per cent each.

A new mutation of the coronavirus that threatens the recovery made so far, giving the bears enough ammunition to send benchmark indices tumbling on Friday morning. According to the scientists, the variant, detected in South Africa, may be able to evade immune responses. British authorities think it is the most significant variant to date, worry it could resist vaccines and have hurried to impose travel restrictions on South Africa.