Sensex ends 209 points lower, Nifty at 10,312; Axis Bank, Coal India, Hindalco top losers

Sensex and Nifty closed on a negative note on Monday, backed by weak global equities as investors worldwide fretted upon the rising number of coronavirus infections. While Sensex ended 209 points lower at 34,961, Nifty closed 70 points lower at 10,312.  

Sector-wise, barring FMCG, all the other indices closed in red territory, with realty and PSU Bank indices dropping almost 3.5% each.

Bajaj Finance, followed by Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC duo and Infosys were among the top losers in the Sensex pack today. On the other hand, ITC, Sun Pharma, Nestle India and PowerGrid were among the gainers.

Asian counterparts ended weak on Monday, in line with Wall Street's closing as coronavirus cases climbed in the US with Texas pausing the reopening of its economy.

Wall Street on Friday closed majorly lower on back of surge in Covid-19 infections in various western and southern parts of the US. European markets also opened lower on Monday as the global death toll from COVID-19 reached half a million people on Sunday, with about one-quarter of all the deaths so far from the United States.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Benchmark indices ended on a negative note, on the back of mixed global cues as surging virus cases around the world and especially in the US, threatened to derail the economic recovery hopes. With states in India set to extend lockdown or reconsidering bringing back lockdown measures, markets seem to be weighing the bad news."

Meanwhile, companies set to announce their earnings are Petronet LNG, Tata Steel, Bharat Forge, Venky's, J&K Bank, Raymond, Punjab & Sind Bank, Minda Corp, Bharat Dynamics, NOCIL, SJVN, RVNL, MSTC, Lux Industries, Hind Copper, Welspun, MRF, Bharat Electronics, GMR Infra, Central Bank of India, Fortis Healthcare, AstraZeneca Pharma and CESC among others.

On Nifty's technical outlook, Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, "Index started the week on a negative note and closed at 10312 with loss of 71 points forming a dragonfly doji kind of candle pattern on the daily chart which represents uncertainty in the markets. Now, index has shifted its support to 10270-10200 zone and resistance is coming near 10370-10450 zone."

On the currency front, rupee closed stronger at 75.58 per dollar against the last close of 75.63 per dollar on Friday.

Commenting on rupee's trade today, Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities said,"Rupee ended higher on Monday on likely overseas inflows into local debt amid a weak greenback. Rupee is still broadly trading between the range of 75.40-75.75".

Worldwide, the number of cases linked to the COVID-19 disease has crossed 1.01 crore, while death toll has topped 5.01 lakh. Meanwhile, in India, number of infections rose to 5,48,318, according to the health ministry. The death toll rose to 16,475.