Market opens in red: Sensex falls 326.25 points, Nifty below 9,000-mark; Rupee opens at historic low

Tech shares took a beating on Thursday after Wipro flagged a hit from the novel coronavirus pandemic, while dour data from the United States and grim economic outlook for Asia further weighed on investor sentiment. Sensex dropped over 300 points in opening trade on Thursday tracking losses in global markets as investors fretted over rising number of Covid-19 cases and its impact on the world economy. After hitting a low of 30,016.17, the 30-share index was trading 336.77 points or 1.11 per cent lower at 30,043.04. Similarly, the NSE Nifty was quoting 81.10 points, or 0.91 per cent, down at 8,844.20. Infosys was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding up to 4 percent, followed by Kotak Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Axis Bank. On the other hand, L&T, PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries and ONGC were among the gainers. In the previous session, the BSE barometer ended 310.21 points or 1.01 percent lower at 30,379.81, and the Nifty settled 68.55 points, or 0.76 per cent, down at 8,925.30. [caption id=“attachment_8115511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18[/caption] Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers in the capital market in the last trading session, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 1,358.66 crore, according to provisional exchange data. According to traders, tepid start to the earnings season with weak results from Wipro hurt domestic market mood. The IT major posted 6 percent decline in net profit for March quarter that was battered by the fallout of Covid-19, and said it will not provide revenue forecast for the current quarter due to business uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The company’s shares were trading 0.48 percent lower from their previous close. Industry bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is scheduled to announce its quarterly earnings later in the day. Its shares were down up to 1.58 per cent. The BSE IT index was the worst hit, falling over 2 percent. Further, investors across the world are jittery over the economic outlook marred by mounting Covid-19 infections, they said. The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 414, while the number of cases in the country climbed to 12,380. Global tally of the infections has crossed 20 lakh, with over 1.3 lakh deaths. Meanwhile, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were in the red. Stock exchanges on Wall Street ended significantly lower in overnight trade. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.66 per cent to $28.15 per barrel. Rupee at historic low The Indian rupee tanked 36 paise to an all-time low of 76.80 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, tracking weak domestic equities and sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country. Forex traders said the weakness in the rupee was largely due to strengthening of the US Dollar against the basket of currencies as investors fled to safe haven Greenback amid weakening risk appetite in the markets.

#Rupee slips to record low of 76.82 briefly #CNBCTV18Market pic.twitter.com/pPCY5waRle

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) April 16, 2020

The rupee opened weak at 76.75 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to hit an all-time low of 76.80, down 36 paise over its last close. The rupee had settled at 76.44 against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency could also track local equity markets which started on a negative note as Asian stock markets are set to tumble amid increasing gloomy economic outlooks for Asia, Reliance Securities said in a report. IMF said Thursday that Asia’s economic growth this year will grind to a halt for the first time in 60 years, as the coronavirus crisis takes an “unprecedented” toll on the region’s service sector and major export destinations, the report noted. Moreover, market participants are also concerned that the sharp rise in coronavirus cases, could weigh on the economy. The number of cases around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 20 lakh. In India, nearly 12,000 coronavirus cases have been reported so far. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.46 per cent to 99.91. --With agency inputs