Within one hour after opening markets on Monday, the key Indian equity indices opened on a negative note in the backdrop of Covid surge, with heavy selling in finance and banking stocks. The BSE Sensex plunged as much as 754.29 points to touch an intra-day low of 48,028.07 points.
It has, however, recovered from the lows and around 10.15 a.m., it was trading at 48,424.70, lower by 357.66 points or 0.73 per cent from its previous close of 48,782.36. It opened at 48,356.01 and has so far touched an intra-day high of 48,493.14 points.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,532.35, lower by 98.75 points or 0.67 per cent from its previous close. The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki India, Bajaj Auto and Hindustan Unilever, while the major losers were Titan Company, ONGC and ICICI Bank.
FIIs exit Indian markets
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) ended their buying spree in April as they pulled out net investments worth Rs 9,659 crore from Indian equities during the month, owing to the surging Covid cases and the resultant lockdowns spooked investor sentiments.
The FPIs turned net sellers after a gap of five months. In September, FPIs pulled out net investments worth Rs 7,783 crore. Along with the second wave of Covid-19, weakness in the Indian rupee also led to the outflow of foreign funds last month, analysts said.
The net FPI investment in 2020 now stands at Rs 46,083 crore, including the net investments of Rs 19,473 crore, Rs 25,787 crore and Rs 10,482 crore in January, February and March, respectively.
