Sensex falls by 674 points, banking stocks plunge

Equity benchmark indices slipped further on Friday as banks and financial stocks dragged with investors expecting a deterioration in their asset qualities due to disruption in economic activity from the coronavirus outbreak.

At the closing bell, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 674 points or 2.39 per cent at 27,591 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 170 points or 2.06 per cent at 8,084.

Except for Nifty FMCG and pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty private bank down by 5.4 per cent, IT and auto by 3 per cent each, and metal by 1.9 per cent. Nifty pharma, however, rose by 4.7 per cent.

Among stocks, private sector lender Axis Bank dropped by 8.8 per cent to Rs 326.90 per share while IndusInd Bank dipped by 8.3 per cent, ICICI Bank by 7.4 per cent and State Bank of India by 5.6 per cent.

HDFC was down by 5.2 per cent to Rs 1,499.75 per share. The other major losers were Titan, Maruti, Asian Paints and Wipro.

But Sun Pharma jumped by 9.5 per cent to Rs 376.45 per share while Cipla rose by 8.2 per cent. ITC, GAIL, ONGC and Bharat Petroleum Corporation traded with a positive bias.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were flat despite Wall Street's overnight gains after crude prices notched their biggest one-day surge on record.

Japan Nikkei crawled up by 0.01 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.03 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped by 0.19 per cent and Shanghai composite by 0.6 per cent.

US stocks rallied after President Donald Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce an oil production cut of up to 10 million to 15 million barrels as the two countries signalled a willingness to make a deal.

Saudi Arabia said it will call an emergency meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, media reports said.