The key Indian equity indices reversed their initial gains in the opening hours on Thursday to trade in the negative territory soon, due to Covid-19 pandemic news overwhelming the positive sentiments seen on Tuesday.

Around 11.30 a.m., Sensex was trading at 48,075.04, lower by 469.02 points or 0.97 per cent from its previous close of 48,544.06.  It opened at 48,512.77 and has so far touched an intraday high of 48,686.17 and a low of 48,074 points.

sensex

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 14,374.25, lower by 130.55 points or 0.97 per cent from its previous close.

Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in auto and IT stocks while metal stocks rose. The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and TCS, while Infosys, Maruti Suzuki India and IndusInd Bank were the major losers.