Mumbai: The Indian stock market witnessed a freefall on Wednesday with the BSE Sensex losing over 800 points.
The Sensex closed at 49,180.31, lower by 871.13 points, or 1.74 per cent, from its previous close of 50,051.44.
It had opened at 49,786.47 and touched an intra-day high of 49,854.58 and a low of 49,120.34 points.
The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,549.40, lower by 265.35 points, or 1.79 per cent, from its previous close.
Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in banking, finance, metal and auto stocks.
Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, and Axis Bank were the major losers on the Sensex, while Asian Paints, and Power Grid were the only gainers during the day.
The decline in the domestic market took place in line with the global selloff.
Globally, stock markets were weighed on by the concerns of rising coronavirus cases and prospects of restrictions in Europe.
"Domestic equities fell sharply on weak global cues and continued apprehensions among investors from surge in coronavirus cases in the country,” Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities told PTI.
Further, a sharp rebound in dollar index aggravated concerns despite dip in US bond yields and crude prices, he added.
According to analysts, the Union Health Ministry's statement saying a total of 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10,787 positive samples shared by States also weighed on the market sentiment on Wednesday.
The official data shows that a total of 47,262 fresh Covid-19 infections were reported in the last 24 hours, the highest single day rise since early November, taking the nationwide tally to more than 1.17 crore.
(With Agency Inputs)
