Sensex Plunges 1,400 Points As Maharashtra Lockdown Looms

Stocks today witnessed heavy selling pressure led by banking stocks, as fears of lock down in the economically important state of Maharashtra loomed. The Sensex was down nearly 1,300 points, while the Nifty dropped 420 points in trade.

Banking stocks came crashing down over fears of an imminent lockdown in Maharashtra over rising number of Covid cases in the city.

The Bank Nifty was down almost 1,300 points or 4 per cent, with even the bluest of blue chip stocks taking a severe knock. State Bank of India dropped almost 5 per cent, while ICICI Bank was down 4% in early trade.

Among the banking stocks, IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser with the shares of the bank diving almost 8% in trade. Even NBFC stocks like Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv fell sharply by nearly 5%. Stocks from the pharma space managed to buck the trend with Cipla leading gainers from the space.

Fears of lockdown in Maharashtra and night curfew in various states over the rising number of Covid-19 cases have led to worries of a sharp slowdown in the Indian economy for the first quarter of financial year 2021-22.

The country reported 1.7 lakh Covid-19 cases till late evening on Sunday, marking the biggest single-day spike ever since pandemic began last year. In fact, cases from several states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka have been on the rise.