Markets witnessed bloodbath on D-Street after blue-chip Nifty50 stock index fell below the 10,000-mark to 9,992 points at 09:19 am while the Sensex sank 1,702 points to 34,020 at 09:27 am on March 12.
Indian equities collapsed on Monday amid yet another global equity meltdown over fears that coronavirus might hit the economic activity more than it was anticipated. Separately, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has collapsed more than 20% from its peak – thereby entering bearing.
The Benchmark indices in India collapsed by close to 5% at the beginning of the trade. The 30-share index of BSE – Sensex – plunged 1,768 points (4.99%) at 33,929 – the lowest in almost two years. With over 19% losses since January, when it touched its historical high of 42,059, the Indian markets are also headed towards bear market phase – which comes into force when index tumbles 20% from its peak.
All the stocks on Sensex, led by Tata Steel (9.35%), traded in deep red. The overall market breadth was also largely negative – with just 94 advances against 1,168 declines.
On the other hand, broader index – 50-share NSE Nifty – crashed below the psychological 10,000-mark. The Nifty was trading at 9,974.60, down 484 points (4.7%) at the time of publishing the copy.
"It appears that COVID-19 will get firmly priced in. While companies are beginning to realign supply lines, it may take some time for businesses to be fully up and running - stock markets are in for a wild ride," said Anubhav Srivastava of Infinity alternatives.
Other far eastern markets are also witnessing a bloodbath, as Nikkei 225 has collapsed over 5% after Dow 30 crashed 6% yesterday over fears that Washington’s response to coronavirus may not be adequate.
As the foreign funds pulled out of Indian markets rupee tanked 55 paise to 74.20 – precariously close to its all-time low of 74.45.