Sensex tanks 740 points; Nifty closes at 14,324

Declining sharply for the second day in a row, the Indian markets recorded huge losses on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Besides weak global cues, losses in index majors and prevailing concerns amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases affected the markets.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tanked by 740.19 points or 1.51 per cent to close at 48,440.12. The Nifty 50 index plunged 224.50 points or 1.54 per cent to close at 14,324.90. The Nifty Bank index lost 286.80 points or 0.86 per cent and settled at 33,006.45.

The broader market tumbled and the BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 2.22 per cent and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.85 per cent.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE 760 shares rose and 2189 shares fell. On the Nifty 50 index, 5 shares advanced and 45 shares declined. The five gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel (up 2.87 per cent), Dr Reddy's (up 0.78 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 0.55 per cent), HDFC (up 0.50 per cent) and Larsen & Turbo (up 0.35 per cent). The top five losers on the index were IOC (down 4.02 per cent), Maruti (down 3.88 per cent), Coal India (down 3.40 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 3.14 per cent) and Hindustan Unilever (down 3 per cent).

COVID-19 Update

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 12,47,93,058 with 27,43,520 deaths. India reported 3,95,192 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,60,692 deaths while 1,12,31,650 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Health Ministry today said, Six States, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, are reporting a surge in daily new cases and they together account for 80.63 per cent of the new cases reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 31,855. It is followed by Punjab with 2,613 while Kerala reported 2,456 new cases. Meanwhile, Over 5,31,45,000 doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far. Union Health Ministry said that more than 23.62 lakh doses were given to the beneficiaries in the last 24 hours. The country's COVID-19 recovery rate is at 95.28 per cent and over 1.12 crore patients have already recovered from this disease.

EU tightens export curbs over COVID-19 vaccines

European Union has tightened its Covid-19 vaccine export control mechanism on Wednesday to prevent the one-way flow of vaccines out of the bloc. The measure could limit vaccine exports to countries like the UK, which produce some of their vaccines but do not, in turn, send doses to the EU.

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said open roads should run in both directions. The new rules set out by the Commission, which oversees EU trade policy; expand existing measures aimed at ensuring that planned exports by drug makers do not threaten the bloc's supply.

The action came as the EU wrangled with UK-based vaccine producer AstraZeneca over a supply shortfall, spurring a British warning against arbitrary blockades. They widen the net by adding 17 previously exempt countries - including Israel, Norway and Switzerland - to the list of countries for which exports of EU-produced vaccines require licences.