Sensex tanks 500 points, Nifty below 9,200 on weak global cues

NEW DELHI: Doubts over Covid drug development and delays in economic stimulus by the government helped the stock market bears make a comeback as domestic equity indices opened with deep cuts on Friday. Gilead Sciences Inc's, which was conducting a clinical trial of antiviral drug Remdesivier, said it had failed to help severely ill Covid-19 patients in its first clinical trial. The company said the findings were inconclusive because the study conducted in China was terminated early.Winding up of six credit funds by Franklin Templeton MF also raised worries over financial health of Indian corporates, in turn hitting sentiments on the Street. It reflected that money managers are scared of defaults going ahead, and are protecting their clients' money.At 9.20 am, BSE flagship Sensex was down 481 points or 1.51 per cent at 31,381 while NSE benchmark Nifty shed 116 points or 1.24 per cent to 9,198. Broader market indices were faring in-line with their headline peers as Nifty Smallcap dropped 1.05 per cent while Nifty Midcap fell 1.12 per cent. Nifty 500 was down 1.18 per cent.Among bluechip stocks, HCL Tech was the biggest gainer, up about 3 per cent at Rs 492 while L&T, Sun Pharma and ONGC rose over a per cent each.Bajaj Finance was the biggest loser in the 30-share pack Sensex, down 4.38 per cent at Rs 2,080 while ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank dropped more than 3 per cent each. Britannia Industries, which declared an interim dividend on Thursday, gained about 2 per cent to Rs 3,005 on BSE. Meanwhile, Bharti Infratel, which reported a 7 per cent increase in March quarter profits on higher other income, dropped 1.05 per cent to Rs 164.40.Barring Nifty Pharma that advanced 0.86 per cent, all sectors on NSE traded with losses. Nifty Private Bank was the biggest loser, down 3.33 per cent while Nifty Realty, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank also dropped 3 per cent each.Globally, Asian shares and US stock futures fell on Friday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.4 per cent. US stock futures, the S&P 500 e-minis, were down 0.72 per cent. Shares in China, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, fell 0.25 per cent.

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