Sensex, Nifty Decline Led By Losses In Infosys, TCS, Reliance Industries

Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty IT index's 0.7 per cent decline.

The Indian equity benchmarks erased intraday gains led by losses in index heavyweights Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Reliance Industries, HDFC and HDFC Bank. The benchmarks opened higher and gave up gains mirroring cautious trend in other Asian markets as a spike in coronavirus cases across the region over the weekend hurt investor sentiment while oil hovered around 2-1/2 year highs. The Sensex dropped as much as 379 points from the day's highest level and Nifty 50 index an intraday low of 15,817.95 after moving above 15,900 earlier in the session. As of 12:01 pm, the Sensex was down 125 points at 52,800 and Nifty 50 index declined 30 points to 15,830. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last a shade weaker at 702.57. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2 per cent, with South Korea's benchmark KOSPI down about the same amount. Investors were concerned about a spike in coronavirus infections in Asia, with Australia's most populous city of Sydney plunging into a lockdown after a cluster of cases involving the highly contagious Delta strain ballooned.