Indian shares tumbled on Friday amid a global sell-off, as the emergence of a new, highly mutated and possibly vaccine-resistant Covid-19 variant, first identified in South Africa, added to over a fragile economic recovery.
Little is known of the variant detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong, but scientists said it may be able to evade immune responses or make it more transmissible.
The World Health Organization will hold a “special meeting” today to discuss if the heavily mutated strain will become a variant of interest or a variant of concern.
The benchmark 30-share S&P BSE Sensex ended the session down 1,687.94 points, or 2.87 percent, at 57,107.15, after having hit an intraday low of 56,994.
The broader NSE Nifty index dropped below its important psychological level of 17,000 before closing down 509.80 points, or 2.91 percent, at 17,026.45 amid across the board selling.
Both the benchmarks fell to their lowest level in three months.
IndusInd Bank, Adani Ports, Hindalco, Tata Motors and JSW Steel plunged 6-7 percent in the Nifty pack, while pharmaceutical stocks such as Divis Laboratories, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Cipla jumped 3-7 percent.
Sensex Plunges 1,688 Points On Virus Worries; Nifty Nears 17,000
2021-11-26 10:47:21
