Domestic Stock Markets logged marginal losses; Sensex declines 134 points & Nifty settles at 11,505

Benchmark domestic stocks on Friday, September 18, 2020, logged marginal losses amid mixed global cues. The S&P BSE Sensex ended with modest losses while the Nifty ended almost flat after a volatile session.

The Sensex at Bombay Stock Exchange declined 134.03 points, or 0.34 per cent, to close at 38,845.82. The Nifty 50 at National Stock Exchange also fell 11.15 points, or 0.10 per cent, to settle at 11,504.95. Similarly, Nifty Bank fell 289.30 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 22,031.05.

On the other hand, the broader market at BSE closed divergently. The Mid-cap added 0.26 per cent while the Small-cap slipped 0.32 per cent up.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1317 shares rose and 1423 shares fell. On Nifty 50, 28 shares advanced and 22 declined. Dr Reddy's (up 9.92 per cent), Cipla (up 7.11 per cent), Adani Ports (up 3.76 per cent), Bharti Airtel (up 3.73 per cent) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.85 per cent) were the top gainers on Nifty 50 block, while HDFC Bank (down 2.28 per cent), Shree Cement (down 2 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.85 per cent), Kotak Bank (down 1.85 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki (down 1.82 per cent) were the top losers.

Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 30,071,314 with 9,44,887 deaths. India reported 10,17,754 active cases of Covid-19 infection and 84,372 deaths while 41,12,551 patients have been discharged, data showed.

The Bank of England (BoE) on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate at 0.1 per cent and left unchanged the size of its bond-buying programme at 745 billion pounds ($966 billion). BoE hinted that it may consider cutting interest rates below zero for the first time in its history as the economy faces a surge in coronavirus infections and the risk of a no-deal Brexit.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) regional director for Europe on Thursday warned of a "very serious situation" unfolding in Europe. Weekly cases have now exceeded those reported when the pandemic first peaked in Europe in March, said WHO's Hans Klug.

US President Donald Trump said on late Wednesday that the US could distribute a vaccine as early as October 2020, contradicting the director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who told lawmakers earlier in the day that vaccinations would be in limited quantities this year and not widely distributed for six to nine months.