Sensex slips 150 points as Covid cases soar; Nifty slips below 11,150

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices slipped in early trade on Friday as focus shifted to the worrying pace of Covid-19 outbreak that is threatening a delayed recovery in economic conditions in India.

India has reported over 20 lakh Covid-19 cases by now with more than 41,600 deaths.

The country is reporting Covid-19 cases at the fastest pace in the world, despite having among the lowest testing per capita among major economies.

At 09.27 am, BSE flagship Sensex was down 155 points or 0.41 per cent at 37,869 while NSE benchmark Nifty dipped 36 points or 0.33 per cent to 11,163. Media, realty and FMCG stocks were in demand while select bank and metal names saw profit booking.

In the 30-share pack Sensex, Bajaj Finserv was the biggest gainer, up 0.66 per cent at Rs 6,334. It was followed by IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid and ONGC that gained in the range of 0-1 per cent.

HCL Tech was the biggest loser in the pack, down 1.68 per cent to Rs 963, followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC that were other stocks trading in the red, down about a pe cent.

Broader market indices were faring better than their headline peers as Nifty Smallcap added 0.25 per cent while Nifty Midcap climbed 0.84 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was down 0.06 per cent.

Barring Nifty Realty and Nifty Media that added 0.76 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively. all sectoral indices on NSE were trading with cuts. Nifty Bank was the biggest loser, down 0.78 per cent, followed by Nifty IT and Nifty Financial Service that slipped about half a per cent each.

Asia shares dropped in Friday's trade despite overnight gains in US stocks, as investors awaited a US nonfarm payrolls report.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 41.45 points or 0.20 per cent at 22,363.04 in early trade. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 211 points or 0.8 per cent to 24,731.72.

China's Shanghai Composite index declined 17.39 points or 0.51 per cent to 3,369.24.

Overnight, Dow rose 0.68% and S&P500 0.64%. The Nasdaq rose 1%, marking the fourth straight day of record peaks and closing highs as the tech-heavy index ended the session above 11,000 for the first time.