At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 815 points or 1.61% at 49,976.82. The Nifty 50 index lost 223 points or 1.49% at 14,807.30.
The broader market tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.79% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.29%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 912 shares rose and 1,878 shares fell. A total of 155 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 942.60 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 163.87 crore in the Indian equity market on 12 March 2021, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 11,98,75,420 with 26,53,652 deaths. India reported 2,19,262 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,58,725 deaths while 1,10,07,352 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The media reported that Maharashtra recorded this year's highest one-day spike of 16,620 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, which pushed its overall caseload to 23,14,413, while 50 deaths pushed the toll to 52,861.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index lost 2.3% to 1675.50, falling for second trading session. The index tumbled 3% in two days.
TV18 Broadcast (down 3.84%), Zee Entertainment (down 3.7%), DB Corp (down 2.99%), PVR (down 2.6%), Dish TV India (down 2.24%), Sun TV Network (down 1.56%) and Hathway Cable (down 1.26%) tumbled.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Godawari Power & Ispat jumped 9% after the company said it received environmental clearance to operate the enhanced capacity of iron ore pellet plant and set up manufacturing facilities in other divisions. Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board, Raipur has accorded its approval for "Consent to Operate" enhanced capacity of iron ore pellet plant from 21,00,000 to 24,00,000 tons per annum with immediate effect.
Natco Pharma lost 0.93%. The drug maker on Monday announced its foray into pheromone-based mating disruption technology for integrated pest management solution to farmers in India. Natco through its crop health science (CHS) division is working with ATGC Biotech (ATGC) for the technology. ATGC is a science based innovative technology company concentrating on developing new biosafe molecules and tools to protect diverse crops from insect pests, in collaboration with US based agricultural biotech company ISCA Inc.
Numbers to Track:
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2021 settlement rose 73 cents to $69.95 a barrel. The contract fell 0.59% to settle at $69.22 a barrel in the previous session.
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.215% as compared to its previous close of 6.232%.
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee rose to 72.52, compared with its previous closing of 72.79.
MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2021 settlement rose 0.03% to Rs 44,765.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.09% to 91.757.
Economy:
India's wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) in February rose to 4.17% as against 2.03% a month ago in January and 2.26% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Wholesale prices in February this year, which were highest in the last 27 months, rose on the back of rising food prices and manufactured goods.
India's retail inflation (CPI) inched up to 5.03% in February, mainly due to rise in food and fuel prices. Food inflation rose to 3.87% in February, compared to 1.89% in the previous month. Inflation in 'fuel and light' category fell marginally to 3.53% in February compared to 3.87% in January but remained high compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 4.06% in January which was lowest since October 2019.
Meanwhile, the country's factory output (IIP) for the month of January contracted by 1.6% after registering a 1% growth in December 2020. Electricity sector output grew 5.5% in January, while manufacturing contracted by 2% and mining output contracted by 3.7%.
Hit by COVID-19 spread and lockdowns, IIP contracted for five months in row from April to August in last fiscal before making a comeback to positive territory.
Further, Bank credit has risen by 6.63% to Rs 107.75 lakh crore and deposits grew by 12.06% to Rs 149.34 lakh crore in the fortnight ended 26 February, according to RBI data. In the fortnight ended 28 February last year, bank credit stood at Rs 101.05 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 133.26 lakh crore.
Bank credit increased by 6.58% to Rs 107.04 lakh crore and deposits rose by 11.75% to Rs 147.81 lakh crore in the previous fortnight ended 12 February 2021.
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