Indian shares slid on Thursday as the first tranche of the wider Rs 20 lakh crore government stimulus failed to boost a coronavirus-hit economy failed to excite investors. Meanwhile, a dour outlook from the chief of the US Federal Reserve added to the weak sentiment.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to unveil more steps on Thursday and in the coming days, including possible land and labour reforms to fight the coronavirus crisis.

The Sensex ended 886 points lower at 31,123 while the Nifty fell 241 points to settle at 9,143. Banking and IT stocks fell the most, dragging the indices. Index heavyweights RIL, Infosys, HDFC, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank contributed the most to the losses.

Other Asian stock markets also fell as worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections and after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned of an “extended period” of weak economic growth.

Back home, major sectoral indices, except FMCG and pharma were also in the red for the day. Nifty IT and Nifty Fin Services fell the most, down over 3 percent, while Nifty Bank lost 2.7 percent for the day. Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal also shed 0.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Among stocks, Bharti Infratel, Hero MotoCorp, Zee, L&T and UltraTech Cement were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Hindalco, HDFC, and IndusInd Bank led the losses.

India has been under a weeks-long lockdown that has hit the livelihood of millions of workers while leaving many businesses starved of revenues. Coronavirus infections have been rising steadily in the country and on Thursday surpassed 78,000, with more than 2,500 deaths.