Indian shares fell more than 1% on their worst day in over two months on Monday, dragged down by HDFC Bank-led banking stocks, while a surge in worldwide coronavirus cases hurt global stocks and further dented sentiment.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed down 1.07% at 15,752.4, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.1% lower at 52,553.4 on Monday. Both the indexes had hit all-time highs in the previous session.
HDFC Bank was the top loser, ending down about 3.4% after it missed quarterly profit expectations on Saturday as bad loan provisions rose and asset quality deteriorated. The Nifty Bank index slipped 1.9%.
Shares of Adani Group companies fell between 1.1% and 4.8% on news India's securities regulator and customs authorities were investigating some group companies for non-compliance of rules.
Shares of HDFC Life were down 2.8% after the company reported a 33% fall in quarterly profit as claims soared due to the second COVID-19 wave.
Global stocks were facing their longest losing streak since the pandemic first hit global markets 18 months ago after a surge in worldwide coronavirus cases pushed down bond yields.
Global economic growth is also beginning to show signs of fatigue as many countries, particularly in Asia, struggle to curb the highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus and have been forced into some form of lockdown.
The Indian rupee dropped to its lowest level in three months on Monday, in line with other Asian currencies, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus threatened to derail economic recovery.
