sensex today: Sensex falls 397 points as bank, financial stocks drag; Nifty ends at 14,929 – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Equity indices slipped on Monday with the benchmark BSE sensex falling nearly 400 points dragged by banking and financial stocks.
After hitting a low of 49,799 during the day, the 30-share BSE index made some recovery to finish 397 points or 0.78 per cent lower at 50,395.
While the broader NSE Nifty settled 101 points or 0.67 per cent lower at 14,929.
Top losers in the sensex pack included Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, L&T and Asian Paints with their stocks falling as much as 2.81 per cent.
Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and NTPC were the major losers falling as much as 2.3 per cent.
On the NSE platform, sub-indices Nifty Media, Bank and Financial Services falling up to 1.44 per cent.
A combination of rising Covid-19 cases, a jump in core inflation and a fall in industrial output weighed on market sentiment, Aishvarya Dadheech — a fund manager at Ambit Asset Management told news agency Reuters.
Retail inflation rose to three-month high of 5.03 per cent in February on higher fuel prices.
Data also showed industrial output as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) contracted 1.6 per cent year-on-year in January.
Besides, wholesale price inflation (WPI) also rose for the second consecutive month in February to 4.17 per cent, as food, fuel and power prices spiked.

Further, India is battling a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, led mainly by a renewed surge in Maharashtra. The country reported this year’s biggest daily rise in cases of 26,291 on Monday. India is the third-worst affected country globally with 11.39 million cases, behind the United States and Brazil.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 942.60 crore, as per exchange data.
(With inputs from agencies)