Sensex drops 740 points on rising Covid cases, auto stocks crack

Equity benchmark indices closed nearly 1.5 per cent lower on Thursday amid concerns over rising coronavirus infections and weak global cues.

The BSE S&P Sensex was down by 740 points or 1.51 per cent at 48,440 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 225 points or 1.54 per cent to 14,325.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative zone. Nifty auto dipped by 2.7 per cent while Nifty PSU bank was down by 2.6 per cent, realty by 2.5 per cent and IT by 2.2 per cent.

Among stocks, Maruti Suzuki lost by 3.8 per cent to Rs 6,792 per share while Hero MotoCorp fell by 2.9 per cent, Tata Motors and Eicher Motors by 2.8 per cent each.

IndianOil Corporation cracked by 4 per cent to close at Rs 90.75 per share and Coal India dropped by 3.4 per cent.

The other major losers were Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Lever, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finance. However, Tata Steel closed 2.8 per cent higher at Rs 722.95 per share. Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank and HDFC too closed with thin positive margins.

Meanwhile, Asian equities bounced between gains and losses as a selloff in Chinese technology shares due to concerns they will be de-listed from US bourses and worries about a semiconductor shortage rattled some investors.

Japan's Nikkei closed 1.14 per cent higher and South Korea's Kospi was up by 0.4 per cent. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 0.07 per cent lower.

( With inputs from ANI )