Nifty Ends 258 Points Lower As Covid Cases Weigh

Fresh curfew being imposed in many states and a lockdown in Delhi due to rising Covid cases adversely impacted sentiments in trade today.

The Nifty dropped 258 points to end the day at 14,258 points, this beginning the week on a lower note.

The Bank Nifty fell as much as 4 per cent in trade, following worries of a slowdown in growth, that might impact banks.

Shares in HDFC Bank fell after the bank said that net profit increased to Rs 8,186.51 crore in Q4FY21, from Rs 6,927.7 crore in year-ago period. The Bank also saw its Net interest income rising by 12.6 percent to Rs 17,120.2 crore from Rs 15,204.1 crore in same period. The shares were down 3.21 per cent in trade.

Among the top Nifty losers in trade were Adani ports, State Bank of India Tata Motors. Among the Nifty gainers was Dr Reddy's, Britannia and Cipla.

Mindtree too saw its shares gain after the company reported a 2.8 percent decline in Q4FY21 profit at Rs 317.3 crore against Rs 326.5 crore in Q3FY21.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian ended the day with gains led by the Shanghai Composite. Dow Futures were marginally down in trade.