Sensex Drops 883 Points, Nifty Ends Below 14,400 On Rising Covid-19 Cases

All the 11 sector gauges, barring the index of drug makers, compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower.

Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day winning streak and fell sharply on Monday as rising coronavirus infections amid shortage of essential medicines and oxygen weighed on investors' sentiment. The Sensex dropped as much as 1,469 points to hit an intraday low of 47,362.71 and Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 14,200. Shortage of oxygen, vaccines and essential medicines amid rising Covid-19 infections led to imposition of lockdowns in many parts of the country which may hamper the economic recovery and led to a selloff in equities, analysts said. The Sensex dropped 883 points or 1.81 per cent to close at 47,949 and Nifty 50 index tumbled 258 points or 1.77 per cent to settle at 14,359. India on Monday reported its tenth record daily increase in COVID-19 cases in eleven days, with New Delhi - currently under a weekend curfew - reporting a shortage in critical-care beds. "The surge in (COVID-19) infections looks uncontrollable right now... the numbers will stabilise but investors are worried about how long it will take and how much stress the medical system will be able to bear," Siddharth Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services told news agency Reuters.