Cement, Tech Stocks Drag Nifty Lower

Benchmark indices fell in the last one hour of trade, led by declines in Cement stocks and IT Stocks, even as news of fresh curbs and lockdown continued to impact sentiments. The state of Jharkhand announced a lockdown, while Maharashtra announced new curbs, which left analysts worried over economic growth.

The markets which had opened almost 1 per cent higher, dropped and ended the day almost 0.50 per cent lower.

Global cues were weak with European markets seeing declines and Dow Futures pointing to lower openings for the US markets.

Today's losses on the Nifty were led by weakness in cement stocks like Ultratech and Shree Cement, while tech stocks like HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra also dropped. .

Among the Nifty stocks that notched decent gains were the Bajaj twins as also Dr Reddy's Labs. Shares in Crisil ended the day lower, following a drop in its net profits. The stock ended with almost 2 per cent losses.

The Bank Nifty managed to remain resilient to declines, thanks to ICICI Bank, which remained strong.

Meanwhile, oil prices rose to over one-month highs as a weaker U.S. dollar supported commodities. Markets are expected to continue to be volatile as the nation battles a fresh set of Covid 19 infections.