As the number of coronavirus cases in India increases to 172, the sell-off continued at Dalaal Street on Thursday, March 19. Soon after the trading started, the benchmark indices tanked around 2100 points to a 38 month low at 26,990 levels. Nifty also witnessed the same story as it breached the level of 7,900 for the first time since December 27, 2016. Although soon some after the Sensex gained a little due to immediate profit booking, it is hovering around 27,300 at the time of filing the story.
Financial scrips were at the forefront of bearing the brunt as Bajaj Finance plunged 13 percent while Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank were both down over 10 percent each. The HDFC bank also fell around 7 percent. Further, the Volatility index, India VIX, jumped to a 12-year high breaching 70-mark.
Today morning, health officials in Mumbai announced 2 new cases of coronavirus taking the tally to 47 in Maharashtra alone. While a 22-year-old woman tested positive for Covid-19 in Mumbai, another woman, 49, tested positive in Ulhasnagar on Thursday. Both have a travel history to foreign countries. The total reported cases in India has now increased to 172.
