Equity Barometers ended a volatile session with minor cuts; Sensex closes at 38,365

Domestic markets on Tuesday, September 8, 2020, pared all intraday gains to close with modest losses as investors dialled down their exposure to riskier assets amid mixed global cues.

The BSE Sensex witnessed heavy selling in the last hour of trade and finally closed at 38,365.35, down 51.88 points or 0.14 per cent. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 37.70 points, or 0.33 per cent, to finish at 11,317.35. Bank Nifty dropped 201 points, or 0.87 per cent, to close at 22,744.40.

On the other hand, the broader market at BSE underperformed the Sensex and closed with losses. The Mid-cap declined 1.49 per cent while Small-cap fell 0.93 per cent.

Index major Reliance Industries and IT pivotal bucked broader selling pressure. Positive Asian shares supported buying but rising COVID-19 cases and tensions at Indo-China border restricted gains.

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide were at 27,342,332 with 892,714 deaths. India reported 8,83,697 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 72,775 deaths while 33,23,950 patients have been discharged, data showed.

India today denied firing of shots at the Line of Actual Control where the Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off for over three months, the Defence Ministry said in a statement, hours after the People's Liberation Army accused the Indian troops of illegally crossing the border at the shore of the God Pao Mountain area and firing warning shots. In the statement, India accused China of trying to close in on Indian positions and firing in the air.

Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 4.13 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, ONGC, Sun Pharma, NTPC and SBI. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Infosys, Reliance Industries, TCS, ICICI Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the gainers, rising to 2.3 per cent.

BSE telecom, metal, basic materials, realty, industrials, capital goods and utility indices fell up to four per cent, while IT, energy, tech and oil and gas ended in the positive territory.

Experts, terming it a normal correction, said the sentiment was mainly impacted by sell-off in global markets and weakness in banking stocks. Besides, rising tension between India and China also dented the investor sentiment.