On Monday, domestic stock markets crashed with benchmark indices dropping more than 6 percent in their largest single-day drop in at least 10 years, in the midst of a seal-off in global markets. Investors around the globe have been worried over the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic, say, experts, giving in to recession fears.
During the day, the S&P BSE Sensex index plunged to 2,366.26 points to touch 35,210.36 on the downside, and the wider NSE Nifty benchmark collapsed to 10,327.05, down 662.4 points from the previous close.
Sector-wide selloff – driven by financial, metal and energy stocks – weighed on the markets, with heavyweight Reliance Industries nosediving 11% in its worst one-day decline in at least 10 years.
At 2:37 pm, the Sensex traded 1.908 points-or 5%-lower at 35.668, while the Nifty was down at 10.447 with 543 points-or 4.94%. All 11 sectoral indices traded significantly lower, with the Nifty Bank -comprising stocks of the country’s 12 major lenders -down 6.24 percent at the time.
Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC were amongst top drags on Sensex, which together posted a decline of over 1,100 points on the index. Reliance Industries alone accounted for a fall in the Sensex of nearly 500 points.
Analysts who have been monitoring news from coronavirus over the past couple of weeks say the pandemic is a huge negative in the near future and further market downturn cannot be ruled out for now.