The benchmark indices crashed on Thursday, extending losses to the sixth day amid a global selloff. The trading was volatile due to the F&O expiry today.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, crashed 1,114.82 points or 2.96% to 36,553.60. The Nifty 50 index slumped 326.30 points or 2.93% to 10,805.55. The 50-unit index has fallen 6.89% in six sessions.

TCS (down 5.50%), Infosys (down 4.34%), ICICI Bank (down 4.52%), HDFC Bank (down 1.68%) and Reliance Industries (down 2.17%) dragged the benchmarks lower.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 12.32% to 23.57.

Firmness in U.S. dollar also put pressure on domestic shares. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, was trading above the 94 mark.

Sentiment in the global market took a hit after US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida told the media on Wednesday that the U.S. economy remains in a deep hole of joblessness and weak demand, and called for more fiscal stimulus. Clarida added that the central bank will not raise interest rates until it sees 2% inflation for at least a few months and full employment is reached.

Concurrently, rising COVID-19 infections in Europe and uncertainties over U.S. presidential elections also worried investors.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 625 shares rose and 2025 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 2.14% and the BSE Small-Cap index lost 2.28%.

The mid-cap index has corrected 7.41% in four sessions while the small-cap index has fallen 8.18% in six sessions.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 31,870,904 with 976,311 deaths. India reported 9,66,382 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 91,149 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 5.997% as compared with 5.990% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.8975, compared with its close of 73.5750 during the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2020 settlement rose 2 cents at $41.79 a barrel. The contract rose 5 cents, or 0.12% to settle at $41.77 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European markets were mixed while Asian shares tumbled on Thursday as investors' hopes for economic recovery falter amid a second wave of coronavirus cases.

The U.K. reported 6,178 cases, up by 1,252 since Tuesday, as the country grapples with a COVID-19 surge.

South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.59% after tensions on the Korean Peninsula resurfaced. A South Korean official has been shot dead and burned by North Korean troops, said the South's defence ministry which condemned the "brutal act".

The US stock market finished volatile session steep lower on Wednesday, 23 September 2020, as risk-off selling triggered after data showing a cooling of U.S. business activity and Federal Reserve officials highlighted the need for Congress to agree on a new round of stimulus to support the economic recovery.

Investors were disappointed that Washington lawmakers haven't reached an agreement on more stimulus and uneasy over speculation that the US presidential election could drag on due to slow vote counts or legal challenges.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the central bank was not planning any "major" changes to its Main Street Lending Program, while saying that both the Fed and Congress need to "stay with it" in working to bolster the economic recovery.

US composite business activity index slipped to 54.4 in September from 54.6 in the previous month, IHS Markit said Wednesday. The flash services purchasing managers index inched down to 54.6 from 55 in August. The flash manufacturing index rose to 53.5 in September from 53.1 in the prior month. This is a 20-month high. Any reading above the 50 neutral mark indicates improving conditions.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Panacea Biotec hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 196.80 after the company announced successful completion of its Phase I/II study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of its vaccine, DengiAll, a single-dose live-attenuated tetravalent vaccine.

Zydus Wellness surged 4.97% to Rs 1804 after the company launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) on Wednesday and set the floor price at Rs 1,775.85 per equity share for the issue. The pharmaceutical company's finance and administration committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, 28 September 2020, to consider and approve the issue price of the equity shares to be allotted to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to the QIP issue.

Shalby rose 1.22% to Rs 74.55 after the company said its board will meet on 28 September 2020 to discuss various options to reduce promoters shareholding in the company to 75% from the current 79.45%. As per Sebi regulation, promoters of the listed companies are required to bring their shareholding down to 75%.

ONGC lost 1.85% after a massive fire broke out at the company's plant in Surat (Gujarat) in the early hours on Thursday. "A fire was observed in the Hazira Gas processing plant in the morning today. Fire has been brought under control. There is no casualty or injury to any person," ONGC said in a tweet. "Fire at Hazira Plant has been completely extinguished. Efforts are being made to resume normal operations at the earliest," it added.

Tata Chemicals fell 4.74%. On Wednesday (23 September), Tata Sons bought 22.10 lakh equity shares (0.87% equity) of Tata Chemicals at Rs 287.58 per share via bulk deal on the NSE. As of 30 June 2020, Tata Sons held 28.51% stake in the company.

IIFL Securities slipped 2.75%. The company said it has agreed to acquire an additional 6.25% stake in Trendlyne from one of the existing investor. Post-acquisition, IIFL Securities shall hold 20.55% of the share capital of Trendlyne on fully diluted basis, it added. Pursuant to this Giskard Datatech (Trendlyne) shall become an associate of the company.

Ircon International fell 2.92%. The company said that it has secured works of total 9 Road Over Bridges (ROBs) valuing more than Rs 400 crore from Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The scope of work is to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for construction of ROBs in lieu of existing Level Crossings. The period of completion is 24 months from the date of signing of MoU with Zonal Railways, the company said. The work has been awarded by the Ministry of Railways through a competitive bidding among PSUs, it added

Datamatics Global Services hit a lower circuit of 5% at Rs 74.10. The company announced expansion of distribution agreement with Ingram Micro for META region (Middle East, Turkey and Africa) for its Intelligent Automation (IA) products.

Havells India fell 0.74%. The company said it launched 25 new models of direct cool, frost free and side by side refrigerators. It plans to launch additional 25 models of refrigerators and a new range of dishwashers by Diwali 2020.