Financials, auto, realty stocks dip as daily Covid-19 cases hit new peak

Shares of financial sector, including banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and housing finance companies, along with automobiles and real estate companies were under pressure at the bourses, on Monday, falling up to 10 per cent, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on concerns of demand slowdown due to rising Covid-19 cases.

Among financials, RBL Bank, Bank of Baroda, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, L&T Finance Holdings, Indian Overseas Bank, Shrirram Transport Finance, Punjab National Bank and IndusInd Bank slipped over 7 per cent, each. DLF, Sobha, Godrej Properties and Indiabulls Real Estate from realty and Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Motherson Sumi Systems, and Bharat Forge from the automobiles fell between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in intra-day trade.

At 09:49 am, the Nifty PSU Bank index, the top loser among sectoral indices, was trading 7 per cent lower, while Nifty Realty had slipped 6 per cent, and Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Auto indices were down 4 per cent, each. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index was down 2.4 per cent, at 14,485 points.

India recorded a massive surge of 1.69 lakh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours and curbs were imposed in different parts of the country to contain the spread of the virus. Since there has been resurgence in the pandemic and partial lockdowns, there is a likelihood of a delayed recovery in credit offtake.