Sensex drops by 208 points, metal and auto stocks drag

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices wiped out initial gains and closed in the red on Wednesday as investors assessed mixed Q3 corporate results and implications of spreading coronavirus in China and beyond.

The BSE S&P Sensex closed 208 points lower at 41,115 while the Nifty 50 was down by 62 points at 12,108. Most sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the red except for Nifty media, IT and FMCG.

Among stocks, ONGC and Coal India lowered by 5.25 per cent each at Rs 116.30 and Rs 191.55 per share while NTPC dropped by 3.9 per cent. Tata Motors was down by 3 per cent on fears of low sales in China and Maruti by 2.16 per cent.

Private sector lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank too slipped by 2.1 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively. The other prominent losers were UPL and Asian Paints.

However, Zee Entertainment jumped by 4.9 per cent to Rs 298 per share while Grasim moved up by 2.6 per cent. IT majors Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies and Infosys witnessed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets bounced as updates from China about the spread of a new flu-like coronavirus raised hopes the outbreak will be contained. Shanghai shares slipped initially amid worries over a hit to domestic demand and tourism but closed 0.28 per cent higher.

Japan’s Nikkei rose by 0.7 per cent while South Korea’s Kospi index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose by 1.2 per cent each. (ANI)