Stock Markets closed in Red for 4th Day today; Sensex dropped 300 points, Nifty fell 0.79 pct

Indian indices closed with a significant loss for the fourth straight session on Tuesday, September 22, 2020, following weakness in global peers. The equity benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 300.06 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 37,734.08 tracking losses in index-heavyweights amid negative cues from global markets and foreign fund outflows. Nifty 50 fell 96.90 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 11,153.65. Nifty Bank lost 227.70 points, or 1.07 per cent, to 21,139.10.

The decline in most key sectors including bank, auto, metal, and FMCG indices dragged the benchmarks further.

Sellers outweighed buyers. On the BSE, 765 shares rose and 1861 shares fell. On Nifty 50 block 14 shares advances, 35 declined and one remained unchanged. HCL Technology (up 2.85 per cent), TCS (up 2.46 per cent), Sun Pharma (up 2.14 per cent), Tech Mahindra (up 2.13 per cent) and Grasim (up 1.51 per cent) were the top gainer on the Nifty 50 block, while Zee Entertainment (down 6.60 per cent), Adani Ports (down 4.66 per cent), Bharti Infratel (down 4.64 per cent), GAIL (down 4.48 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki (down 2.91 per cent) were the biggest losers.

Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 31,322,314 with 964,765 deaths. India reported 975,861 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 88,935 deaths.

Asian shares were weaker on concerns about new pandemic lockdowns in Europe and after reports about financial institutions allegedly moving illicit funds hurt global banking stocks. European countries are likely to impose more restrictions on public life in the coming days. France reported 10,569 new cases on Sunday while the UK reported almost 4,000 new cases. Italy saw close to 1,000 new infections and Germany reported 1,345 new cases on Sunday and a further 922 cases on Monday.