Indian Stocks Drop as Investors Question Rally Amid Virus Surge

Indian stocks declined as the still-rising coronavirus caseload made some investors question the sharp rebound from this years low.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.6% to 37,914.91 as of 10:26 a.m. in Mumbai. The gauge is up more than 45% from its March low even as the South Asian nation has become the third most-infected country in the world. Some of the technical indicators are signaling the bounce may have been overdone. The NSE Nifty 50 Index slid 0.4% to 11,148.70.

“The risk-reward is not great,” Surendra Goyal, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., wrote in a note, maintaining his March 2021 target for the Nifty at 10,500. The forecast level implies a drop of more than 6% from current levels. “It is difficult to make a fundamental argument around the flows/liquidity.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the worlds second-most populous nation stands at 1.39 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. A total of 32,063 people have died while 885,577 have recovered.

Ten of 15 Nifty 50 companies that have reported results so far have either beaten or met analyst estimates for profits while two results were not comparable, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Bharti Infratel Ltd. and Tech Mahindra Ltd. are set to announce earnings later in the day.

The rupee was little changed against the U.S. dollar, while the yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond fell 1 basis point to 5.81%.

The Numbers

• Fifteen of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by a gauge of bank stocks

• ICICI Bank Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. were the biggest losers on the Sensex, while Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. rose the most

Related Stories

• Shake-Up Looms for Reserve Bank of Indias Rate-Setting Panel

• ICICI Bank Reports Higher Profit, Helped by Insurance Unit Sales

• Virus Ignites Investment Appeal of Indian Drugmakers Post Covid