Indian equity/stock market ended with steep losses on Friday as Coronavirus cases showed no signs of abating while negative global cues further impacted sentiments.

S&P BSE Sensex slipped 674.36 points at 27,590.95.
Nifty 50 index shed 170 points at 8,083.80.

On the BSE, 1140 shares rose and 1099 shares fell.
In Nifty 50 index, 19 stocks advanced while 31 stocks declined.

IHS Markit announced Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) numbers for India yesterday. The headline seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing PMI fell from 54.5 in February 2020 to 51.8 in March 2020. Weighing on the headline figure was slowdown in production growth during March.

Banking stocks faced serious selling pressure. Among the private sector banks, RBL Bank (down 15.65%), Axis Bank (down 9.35%), IndusInd Bank (down 8.69%), Bandhan Bank (down 7.26%), City Union Bank (down 4.13%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 3.56%), Federal Bank (down 3.03%) and HDFC Bank (down 1.87%) declined.

Among public sector banks, Canara Bank (down 6.65%), SBI (down 5.95%), BoB (down 4.79%), PNB (down 2.62%), Andhra Bank (down 1.42%), Punjab & Sindh Bank (down 0.92%), Central Bank of India (down 0.33%), UCO Bank (down 0.33%) and Union Bank of India (down 0.17%) edged lower.

Hero MotoCorp lost 3.23% to Rs 1586.15. Bajaj Auto slipped 1.55% to Rs 2020. Adani Ports shed 0.14% to Rs 244.55. Tata Motors fell 3.61% to Rs 65.50. Jindal Steel & Power tumbled 10.31% to Rs 63.10. Eicher Motors fell 2.93% to Rs 12620. TVS Motor crashed 9.34% to Rs 252.
But Cipla surged 8.57% to Rs 449.

On the economic data front, a private survey released Friday showed China’s services sector shrank further in March. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for March was at 43 following a record low of 26.5 in February. The headline IHS Markit composite PMI for the euro zone collapsed from 51.6 in February to an all-time low of 29.7 in March.