Sensex slips 260 points; financials dip as RBI extends loan moratorium
The domestic equity market ended in the negative territory on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to cut the policy rate by 40 basis points from 4.4 per cent to 4 per cent to trim the impact of coronavirus on the economy. That apart, the central bank also extended the moratorium on loan repayments by three more months, resulting in sell-off in financial stocks.
Nifty Bank today tumbled nearly over 2.5 per cent to 17,279 levels while Nifty Private Bank declined around 3 per cent to 9,421.55 points, with 8 out of 10 constituents ending in the red.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex shed 260 points or 0.84 per cent to settle at 30,672.59. HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank contributed the most to the Sensex’s fall. On the other hand, IT majors, Infosys and TCS, supported the index.
NSE’s Nifty ended at 9,039, down 67 points or 0.74 per cent.