Nifty hovers at 14,400 mark; realty stocks tumble

Key barometers further extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. The Nifty regained the 14,400 mark after briefly slipping below that level. Investor sentiment was dented as Covid-19 cases continued to surge in the country.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1425.3 points or 2.87% at 48,166.69. The Nifty 50 index declined 426.40 points or 2.87% at 14,408.55.

The selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 4.46% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 3.83%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 456 shares rose and 2249 shares fell. A total of 169 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 135,875,683 with 2,935,457 deaths.

India reported 12,01,009 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 170179 deaths while 121,56,529 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India on Monday reported 1,68,912 new Covid-19 cases and 904 deaths in last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

The media reported that a total lockdown may be impending in Maharashtra. With rising COVID cases, a total lockdown is mulled by state government officials. State health minister Rajesh Tope said that a decision could happen after it is discussed during Wednesday's cabinet meeting.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Realty index tumbled 5.89% to 312.50. It was the worst performing sectoral index on the NSE.

DLF (down 9.03%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 7.96%), Sobha (down 5.66%), Godrej Properties (down 5.53%), Prestige Estate (down 5.09%), Sunteck Realty (down 4.81%), Phoenix Mills (down 3.64%), Oberoi Realty (down 3.59%) and Brigade Enterprises (down 3.4%) were top losers in realty space.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Praj Industries declined 4.84%. The company bagged an order to set up India's largest capacity syrup based ethanol plant from Godavari Biorefineries (GBL) in Karnataka. As a part of this project, Praj Industries will expand the existing ethanol manufacturing capacity to 600 kilo litre per day (KLPD), using sugarcane syrup. When commissioned, this will become India's largest capacity syrup-based ethanol plant.

Ratnamani Metals & Tubes added 0.77% after the company received a domestic order of Rs 594 crore for coated carbon steel pipes from oil and gas sector. The said order is to be executed between September 2021 and July 2022.

Global Markets:

Most Asian markets declined on Monday. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index closed at record highs Friday as investors remain cautiously optimistic about economic growth and progress against the pandemic. Stocks linked to the recovering economy led the gains again amid the accelerating vaccine rollout.

On the data front, the U.S. producer-price index rose 1% in March, the U.S. Labor Department said Friday. The rate of wholesale inflation over the past 12 months climbed to 4.2% in March. That's the highest level since September 2011.

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