Domestic equity benchmarks tumbled today; Sensex declines 531 points & Nifty ends at 14,239

Benchmark domestic stocks today declined around one per cent amid mixed global cues. The market was dragged by the fall in the heavyweight Reliance. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 530.95 points, or 1.09 per cent, down at 48,347.59. The NSE Nifty 50 also plunged 133 points, or 0.93 per cent, to settle at 14,238.90. However, the Bank Nifty index rose 31.15 points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 31,198.40.

The broader market at BSE also fell. The BSE Mid-Cap index ended 0.93 per cent down and the BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.96 per cent.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 942 shares rose and 2031 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index, 18 shares rose and 31 shares declined while one remained unchanged. The five stocks that rose on Nifty 50 were Grasim (up 5.87 per cent), UPL (up 4 per cent), Cipla (up 3.80 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (up 2.57 per cent) and Axis Bank (up 2.09 per cent). The top five losers on the index were Reliance (down 5.58 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 5.52 per cent), HCL Tech (down 3.83 per cent), Tata Motors (down 3.68 per cent) and Eicher Motors (down 3 per cent).

The domestic equity market will remain shut on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, on account of Republic Day.

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 9,91,95,630 with 21,29,418 deaths. India reported 1,84,182 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 1,53,470 deaths while 1,03,30,084 patients have been discharged, data showed.

Indo-Sino border issues

The media reported that the Indian and the Chinese troops had brawled again on their contested border, leaving injuries on both sides. The incident happened last week at the Naku La pass in Sikkim state. India and China on Sunday reportedly held the ninth round of senior commanders' talks in a fresh bid to resolve the military standoff at eastern Ladakh.

Nations Conference on Trade and Development on Foreign Direct Investment

Amid the pandemic, China surpassed the US as the world's largest recipient of foreign direct investment, according to a report released Sunday from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. China brought in $163 billion in inflows last year, compared to $134 billion attracted by the US, according to the report.

Foreign Direct Investment into India rose by 13 per cent in 2020, boosted by interest in the digital sector, and while fund flows "declined most strongly" in major economies such as the UK, the US and Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India and China bucked the trend, the UN has said.

An 'investment trends monitor' issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Sunday said that global foreign direct investment (FDI) collapsed in 2020 by 42 per cent to an estimated $859 billion from $1.5 trillion in 2019.