Indian benchmark indices ended deep in red on Monday as investors feared that the government could go for stricter lockdowns to curb the second wave of Covid-19, hampering the economic recovery.

As many as 1,68,912 more people tested positive for COVID-19 across the country in the last 24 hours and India is now only the second country after the US to have the maximum number of cases.

The 30-share benchmark index ended at 47883.38 down by -1707.94 points or by -3.44 % and then NSE Nifty was at 14310.8 down by -524.05 points or by -3.53 %.

Sensex touched intraday high of 48956.65 and intraday low of 47693.44 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 14652.5 and intraday low of 14248.7

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. (Rs. 4989.20,+4.83%), among others.

The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank Ltd. (Rs. 844.40,-8.60%), Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 4512.95,-7.39%), State Bank of India (Rs. 328.80,-6.87%), Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 98.05,-5.54%), Titan Company Ltd. (Rs. 1508.40,-5.24%), among others. Among the sectors, HCS index was at 22550.65 up by -174.09 points or by -0.77%. Panacea Biotec Ltd. (Rs. 258.65,+10.79%), Dr. Lal Pathlabs Ltd. (Rs. 3338.70,+6.36%), RPG Life Sciences Ltd. (Rs. 425.65,+5.53%), Solara Active Pharma Sciences Ltd. (Rs. 1440.90,+5.11%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. (Rs. 4989.20,+4.83%),.

Realty index was at 2436.6 down by -203.32 points or by -7.7%. DLF Ltd. (Rs. 246.60,-11.76%), Sobha Ltd. (Rs. 467.10,-10.04%), Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd. (Rs. 77.10,-9.72%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. (Rs. 493.80,-6.87%), Godrej Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1274.00,-6.51%),.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3454 , shares advanced were 639 while 2607 shares declined and 208 were unchanged.