Sensex slips 1,011 points on US crude oil shock, Nifty ends below 9,000

Sensex and Nifty followed bearish trend from overseas markets and closed lower as US crude oil futures entered red zone for the first time ever. Sensex closed 1,020 points lower at 30,627 and NSE Nifty fell 340 points to 8,920.

Traders said market sentiments were pessimistic on the upcoming earnings reports and economic data. Further economic toll to the nation due to the lockdown extension also kept domestic traders at the edge.

Global markets fell deep into red today, tracking bearish trend from Wall Street that closed lower after US crude prices nosedived below the $0 a barrel mark for the first time ever. Global markets traded in red as fall in demand and storage facilities reaching their limits sent US oil futures historic lows.

In Asian counterparts, SGX Nifty on Singapore fell the most and traded 3.5% lower post the lockdown extension reports. Nikkei, Hang Seng and Taiwan also declined over 2% each. European markets were poised to track the bearish trend and fell 2% by today's closing session in domestic markets.

Expressing views over today's market trend, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "After the US crude oil crash, Indian markets, in sync with global markets traded negatively, as the extent of the impact of lockdowns and the global slowdown is becoming evident."

He further added, "Corporate earnings have also been impacted by the pandemic-related shutdowns. Post earnings, management guidance has also not given a clear indication of the recovery path. Earnings results will be in focus for the future course of the company business."

The historic fall in crude oil price was backed by fears of governments across the globe extending lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus, hammering demand for the commodity.

In the previous session, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery, the benchmark for US oil, fell as low as minus $37.63 a barrel. Today WTI futures were up $21.96 at minus $15.67 a barrel.

Tracking bearish trend, shares of Oil Companies like Reliance Industries, ONGC, Oil India fell over 6% today. Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL were also trading in negative territory.

On the contrary, pharma stocks were the top gainers on Nifty with Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma and Cipla rising nearly 4% each.

Indian rupee, the local benchmark currency that opened weak at 76.79 closed 39 paise lower at all-time low of 76.83 per dollar.

Commenting over Nifty's near-term technical outlook, Manav Chopra, CMT, Head Research - Equity, Indiabulls Securities said," 8,850 is the near term support zone and a close below the mentioned support zone would add pressure on the downside. 9,500 zone to be the max upside in this bear rally. Around the zone of 9,500, we expect the entire rally from 7,500 levels to terminate."

Sensex loses 1,200 points, Nifty falls below 9,000 on oil US crude oil crash: 10 things to know

Rupee vs Dollar: Rupee hits all-time low of 76.83 amid strengthening of dollar

US oil prices reach below $0 a barrel; here's what it means

Share Market LIVE: Sensex falls 800 points, Nifty at 9,010; Infosys down 4% post Q4 earnings

Stocks in news: Infosys, Tata Elxsi, Morepen Labs, L&T, CRISIL, ACC and more