Sensex Drops Nearly 600 Points, Nifty Ends Below 15,800 Dragged By Banks

Selling pressure was broad-based as nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply on Monday dragged by selling pressure in banking and financial services shares after the country's largest private sector lender - HDFC Bank's net profit came in lower than expected on higher provisioning for bad loans due to second wave of Covid-19. Meanwhile, weak trend in global markets also weighed on the investors' sentiment. The Sensex fell as much as 734 points to hit an intraday low of 52,405.89 and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 15,707.50. The Sensex ended 587 points lower to close at 52,553 and Nifty 50 index dropped 171 points to settle at 15,752. Asian shares stumbled to a one-week low and perceived safe haven yen edged higher amid a relentless surge in coronavirus cases and fears of rising inflation while oil prices fell on oversupply worries. European markets were also trading on a weak note as Germany's DAX dropped 1.34 per cent, England's FTSE 100 index fell 1.31 per cent and France's CSC40 index tumbled 1.55 per cent.