Mumbai: The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indices crashed on Thursday mirroring losses in global markets after the World Health Organisation declared the deadly coronavirus a pandemic. A sharp fall in international oil prices also spooked investors across the globe.
More than 1,00,000 people have been infected by the deadly coronavirus around the globe and 73 in India. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 3.2 per cent and touched its lowest level since early 2019, while Japan’s Nikkei crumbled 5.3 per cent.
Domestic benchmarks fell the most on record in terms of biggest single-day fall in absolute terms to hit over two year lows. The Sensex plummeted as much as 7.58 per cent or 2,707 points to and the Nifty 50 index plunged as much as 810 points or 7.74 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street stocks plunged on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average confirming a bear market for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis, after the US President Donald Trump announced a ban on all travel from Europe except the UK for 30 days starting Friday, stunning investors, who anticipated more disruptions to businesses and the world economy going forward.
Meanwhile, US and European equity futures traded with deep cuts. The S&P 500 futures dropped 4.7 per cent and Euro Stoxx 50 futures sank 5.8 per cent to their lowest levels since mid-2016.
The United States’ travel ban from Europe refuelled concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on world business. Analysts had already been gauging the chances of major economies entering recession in the past few weeks due to the fast-spreading outbreak.
Yes Bank was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares; the stock plunged 16 per cent. Bharat Petroleum, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, ONGC, GAIL India, Hindalco and State Bank of India also fell between 10 per cent and 15 per cent.
HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, TCS and Kotak Mahindra Bank were biggest drags on the Sensex. They collectively wiped out more than 1,000 points from the Sensex.
