Bear knocks out bull as Sensex falls 397 points; Nifty slips below 15K mark

Mumbai: Equity indices took a knock for the second straight session on Monday as lacklustre macroeconomic data and a rising trend in COVID-19 cases dented risk appetite.

A sharp jump in the rupee was not enough to shore up sentiment, traders said.

After gyrating 1,035.71 points during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 397 points or 0.78 per cent lower at 50,395.08. The broader NSE Nifty slumped 101.45 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 14,929.50.

Banking and finance stocks bore the brunt of the losses, while the IT pack buckled the trend.

Bajaj Finserv was the top loser among the Sensex constituents, shedding 2.68 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance

Industries.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and NTPC were among the gainers, jumping up to 2.22 per cent.

Industrial production growth re-entered the negative territory by contracting by 1.6 per cent in January, while retail inflation soared to a three-month high of 5.03 per cent in February on costlier food items, as per data released post market hours on Friday.

Sector-wise, BSE energy, finance, healthcare, capital goods, industrials and bankex fell up to 1.20 per cent, while metal, power, utilities and IT rose as much as 1.49 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices slipped up to 0.72 per cent.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.01 per cent lower at $69.21 per barrel.