Nifty Ends Lower Dragged Down By Banks

Banking stocks saw major losses in trade today, as global cues were weak, and stocks from the sector, which have the highest weightage in the indices pulled markets lower.

The Nifty ended the day lower by 42 points, even as European markets were flat. Dow Futures pointed to weakish openings for the US Markets, following a fall seen on Thursday as well. Worries over rising Covid-19 cases from across the world impacted sentiments. US saw a record number of Covid-19 related infections and so did India.

Almost all the banking stocks saw steep cuts in trade today with IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank leading losses from the sector. Apart from this ICICI Bank and financials like HDFC also pulled the markets lower.

Reliance Industries was among the gainers in trade with the stock ending the day with almost gains of 3 per cent. Among the other Nifty stocks that managed to end the day higher were Sun Pharma, HUL, Britannia and Coal India.

TCS, which reported numbers that lagged estimates managed to end the day marginally higher in trade. The net profits of the company fell by almost 14 per cent, weighed down by the impact of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, most European markets were trading flat, following a slump on Thursday.