Equity indices in the red, banking and financial stocks bleed

Apr 24, 2020

New Delhi, Apr 24 (ANI): Equity benchmark indices were in the negative zone during early hours on Friday tracking trends in Asian markets as investors awaited government efforts on another stimulus package to shore up economic activity in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 420 points or 1.32 per cent at 31,443 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 123 points at 9,191. Except for Nifty pharma which moved up by 1.3 per cent, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty financial service by 2.8 per cent, private bank by 2.7 per cent and realty by 2.3 per cent. Among stocks, Zee Entertainment lost by 6 per cent to Rs 148.25, a day after closing 3.7 per cent higher after Florida Retirement System (FRS) reportedly bought over half a per cent stake in the company.