Sensex slumps 981 points, Nifty ends near 17,800; PSU index crashes 6%

Bears crawled on Dalal Street on Friday as wobbly global sentiment as Covid-19 scare in China triggered slowdown fears. With this, equity markets have settled lower for a fourth consecutive day.

The S&P BSE Sensex slumped 981 points or 1.6 per cent to end at 59,845, which is its lowest level since October 28. The index hit an intra-day low of 59,766 during the day dragged by Tata Steel, Tata Motors, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Reliance, L&T, which shed 2-5 per cent.

The Nifty50, meanwhile, ended at 17,807, down 321 points or 1.8 per cent. The index sank to a low of 17,779 during the day.

The pain was even more severe in the broader market space where the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 3 and 4 per cent, respectively.

The broad-based selling was led by public sector banks with the Nifty PSU Bank index tumbling nearly 6 per cent. This was followed by the Nifty Metal index (down over 4 per cent), and the Nifty Realty index (down 3 per cent).

Shares of Ingersoll-Rand (India) surged 5 per cent to Rs 1,909 on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade after the company’s board approved setting up of a new manufacturing plant in Gujarat to increase the manufacturing capacity of the existing products and also to manufacture new products.

Abans Holdings makes disappointing debut; tanks 19% below its issue price. The stock fell to a low of Rs 218.65 on the BSE, down 19% when compared with its issue price of Rs 270 per share.

Droneacharya Aerial makes stellar debut, lists 89% above issue price. Shares of Droneacharya Aerial Innovations made a stellar debut as shares were listed at Rs 102 per share, a whopping 89 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 54 per share on the BSE on Friday.

Landmarks Cars made a weak stock market debut on Friday with its shares being listed at Rs 471 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), a discount of 7 per cent below its issue price of Rs 506. The stock of the auto dealer opened at Rs 471.30 on the BSE.

Here are some picks from the week gone by.