Nifty Bank tanks over 4% on renewed lockdown, SC verdict hit concerns

India's factory activity grew at its weakest pace in seven months in March as renewed lockdowns to curtail a resurgence in Covid-19 cases dampened domestic demand and output

Investors off-loaded banking stocks on the bourses on Monday as record Covid-19 cases stirred fears of virus-induced restrictions across the country. Consequently, market participants panicked on concerns that derailment of economic activity may spark fresh round of non-performing assets' (NPAs') pile up.

In the intra-day deals, the Nifty Bank index tumbled 1,493 points, or 4.4 per cent, to hit a low of 32,365 levels while the Nifty Private Bank and PSU Bank indices slipped 4.4 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index dropped over 300 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 14,535 levels by