Losses in metal shares dragged Indian markets lower on Monday, as rising death toll in China raised alarm bells about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and its economic impact.
The broader NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.38% to 12,053.15 by 0355 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was 0.38% lower at 40,979.50.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.7% as the death toll touched 908 in China’s central Hubei province as of Sunday, surpassing the SARS epidemic.
“We have a situation where the extent of the virus impact is yet to be gauged,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services in Kochi. “There is a lot of uncertainty.”
In the domestic market, investors sought to offload overbought shares, which recorded their best weekly performance since December on Friday.
The Nifty metals sub-index fell 1.8% after data from China’s metal association showed the country’s nonferrous metal output will fall at least 10% year-on-year in February, before recovering in the second quarter, due to the virus outbreak.
Tata Steel was the top laggard among the blue-chip stocks, dropping 3.6%, followed by Zee Entertainment, which fell 3.16%.
Meanwhile, strong earnings by UPL Ltd pushed the stock up 3.66% to top the Nifty gainers, while news of Yes Bank’s shareholders approving a 100 billion rupees capital raise sent its shares 2.7% higher.
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