Sensex Trades Lower As Global Markets Retreat On Vaccine Delay

Benchmark indices opened the day lower as global markets fell sharply after AstraZeneca Plc said its late-stage trial for a potential coronavirus vaccine had been put on hold due to safety concerns.

Most Asian markets were lower by almost 2 per cent, while Dow Futures too retreated on worries over stretched valuations and a likely delay in the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Sensex was trading with losses of 240 points, while the Nifty dipped 80 points in trade. Banking stocks continued to trend lower with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank among the early losers in trade.

TeamLease Services saw its share price gain almost 1 per cent, after the company increased its stake from 40% to 76.37% in edu-tech company Schoolguru.

Dishman Carbogen Amcis reacted to results and the stock dropped as much as 5 per cent in trade. The company's net loss was placed at Rs 21.4 crore versus a net profit at Rs 34.3 crore for the corresponding period of last year.

Among the notable gainers in trade from the Nifty pack were stocks like HDFC Life, Power Grid, Asian Paints, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs.

Nifty stocks that lost ground in trade were Tata Steel, UPL, Zee Entertainment and Hindalco.