Sensex surrenders opening gains, drops over 60 points; Nifty near 9,000 level

Equity benchmark Sensex turned volatile after jumping over 200 points in early trade on Wednesday tracking mixed cues from global markets and uncertainty over the impact of easing lockdown restrictions. After touching a high of 30,825.18 in opening session, the 30-share index gave up all of its gains to trade 63.21 points or 0.21 per cent lower at 30,546.09. Similarly, NSE Nifty fell 13.70 points or 0.15 per cent to 9,015.35.

M&M was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling around 2 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Titan, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC Bank were among the gainers. In the previous session, the BSE barometer declined 63.29 points or 0.21 per cent to end at 30,609.30, while the broader Nifty closed 10.20 points or 0.11 per cent down at 9,029.05.

Foreign portfolio investors purchased equities worth Rs 4,716.13 crore in the capital market on Tuesday, provisional exchange data showed. According to experts, market participants were unsure about the extent of pain in the Indian economy as COVID-19 cases continued to rise as the end day of the lockdown neared. In the next few days, market is likely to trade range-bound with a zig-zag fashion as traders will prefer not to carry forward their open positions on uncertainty in the global markets, they said.

The number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1,51,767 and the death toll touched 4,337, as per health ministry data. Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 55.89 lakh and the deceased tally stood around 3.50 lakh. Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red, while those in Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains. Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended on a positive note in overnight trade. International oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 0.17 per cent lower at USD 36.11 per barrel.