Sensex plunges 984 points, ends below 49,000, Nifty gives up 14,650

The domestic stock market indices, Sensex and Nifty ended sharply lower dragged by heavy selling in banking and financial stocks.

The Sensex index nursed losses in 25 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels today, down 983.5 points.

NSE's 50-share index erased 264 points to close at 14,631 levels dragged mainly by HDFC (down 4.2 per cent), HDFC Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and Adani Ports.

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HDFC twins were the top losers in the Sensex pack, shedding over 4 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, M&M, HUL, TCS and Maruti.

On the other hand, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Bajaj Auto were the gainers.

According to Binod Modi, Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities, domestic equities fell sharply on weak global cues and heavy sell-off in financial stocks. Asian markets traded weak on emerging concerns about growth after China's factory activity expanded slower than expected in April.

Barring pharma, metals and IT, most of the key sectoral indices saw selling pressure.

"Persistent rise in daily caseload and higher number of deaths continue to remain a matter of concerns for central and state governments and therefore any possibility of further economic restrictions cannot be ruled out by the state governments. The market is expected to be volatile until we see a clear reversal in COVID-19 cases," he said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended on a negative note.

Bourses in Europe were trading with marginal gains in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.31 per cent lower at USD 67.15 per barrel.

(With inputs from agencies)