New Delhi: The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes fell for second straight session on Monday in line with global shares as the death toll from a coronavirus outbreak exceeded the SARS epidemic. More than 900 people have died mainly in China’s central Hubei province as of Sunday with most of the new deaths in the provincial capital of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. The S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 343 points at the day’s lowest level and the 50-shares Nifty briefly dropped below its psychologically important level of 12,000.
The Sensex ended 162 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 40,980 and the Nifty 50 index declined 67 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 12,032.
European shares edged lower as fears over the coronavirus’ economic impact still weighed on sentiment. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.3 per cent in early deals, with the travel and leisure sector the biggest decliner.
Back home, all the 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Metal index’s over 3 per cent fall. Auto, Media, PSU Bank, Realty and Pharma sector gauges also fell between 1-2.6 per cent each.
