Mumbai: The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indices suffered their biggest single-day selloff ever in absolute terms as the Indian markets entered a bear phase.
The investor sentiment – which has been shaky in the past few weeks in the backdrop of the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak – took a further beating after the World Health Organisation declared the deadly virus as a pandemic. The Nifty 50 crashed as much as 9 per cent or 950 points to 9,508 during the session – its lowest level recorded since June 2017 and the S&P BSE Sensex dropped as much as 8.97 per cent or 3,204 points to 32,493 – its lowest in 23 months.
The Sensex cracked 2,919.26 points – or 8.18 per cent – to close at 32,778.14 and the Nifty dropped 868.25 points – or 8.3 per cent – to settle at 9,590.15.
The domestic markets markets slumped mirroring losses globally as investors around the world anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic will lead the global economy into recession, analysts said. More than 1,00,000 people have been infected by the deadly coronavirus around the globe, and 73 in India.
“Markets will not recover in a hurry and investors should not buy anything. Apart from virus multiple factors are adding stress to our markets. These are difficult times there can be a sharp recovery but that will be sold into,” he added.
All the 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index’s over 13 per cent slump. Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Realty, Pharma, Metal, Media, IT, Financial Services and Auto sector gauges also dropped between 8-10 per cent each.
