New Delhi: Domestic stock markets crashed on Monday with benchmark indices slumping more than 6 per cent in their biggest single-day fall in at least 10 years, amid a selloff in global markets.
Investors around the globe panicked about the severity of coronavirus pandemic giving in to fears of recession, say analysts. The S&P BSE Sensex index plummeted as much as 2,366.26 points to hit 35,210.36 on the downside during the session, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark slumped to as low as 10,327.05, down 662.4 points from the previous close. A selloff across sectors – led by financial, metal and energy stocks – weighed on the markets, with heavyweight Reliance Industries nosediving 11 per cent in its worst single-day fall in at least 10 years.
At 1:20 pm, the Sensex traded 2,314.86 points – or 6.16 per cent – lower at 35,261.76 while the Nifty was down 648.75 points – or 5.90 per cent – at 10,340.70. All the 11 sectoral indices traded sharply lower, with the Nifty Bank – comprising stocks of 12 major lenders in the country – down 6.24 per cent at the time.
ONGC, Reliance Industries, Vedanta, Zee Entertainment, IndusInd Bank and TCS – down between 7.95 per cent and 14.07 per cent – were the biggest percentage losers in the Nifty basket of 50 shares at the time, as 46 of its components bore losses. On the other hand, Yes Bank and Bharat Petroleum managed gains of 29.72 per cent and 7.33 per cent respectively.
Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC were top drags on Sensex, together accounting for a loss of more than 1,100 points on the index. Reliance Industries alone accounted for nearly 500 points fall in the Sensex.
Analysts who have been tracking coronavirus news over past few weeks say the pandemic is a huge negative in the near term, and further market correction cannot be ruled out for the time being.
Equity markets across Asia sank in a sea of red with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan plummeting 3.0 per cent to a five-month low, Japan’s Nikkei falling 4.7 per cent and Australia’s commodity-heavy market down 5 per cent.
