The S&P BSE Sensex and National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 Thursday, March 12 took a massive beating tracking fall in the global markets after the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus a pandemic.
In late morning trade, the benchmark BSE Sensex plummetted 2,707.39 points or 7.58 per cent to 32,990.01, the biggest fall in more than 17 months, while the Nifty 50 crashed 809.75 points or 7.74 per cent to hit an intraday low of 9,648.65.
First time in two years Nifty slipped below 10,000-mark
This is the first time in two years that Nifty has slipped below the key 10,000-mark. The investors lost over 8 lakh crore in the mayhem at the stock markets triggered by coronavirus as well as a sharp fall in the international oil prices.
The US ban on travellers from Europe, excluding the UK, reignited the fears of coronavirus pandemic on businesses around the world. The US S&P 500 futures slipped as much as 4.9 per cent, a day after losing 4.89 per cent, putting the index in a bear market territory for the first time since the 2008 global economic crisis. The Euro Stoxx 50 futures also sank 5.8 per cent to their lowest levels since 2016.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei sank 5.3 per cent, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan crumbled 3.2 per cent to hit its lowest level since 2019. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 3.6 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite in China, a country where the coronavirus outbreak originated, was down by 1.9 per cent.
The fall in the global markets came after US President Donald Trump announced a ban on travellers from 26 European countries entering the United States for 30 days, starting Friday, in order to contain the rapidly spreading outbreak.
Rupee slipped nearly 70 paise to 74.34 against US dollar
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee weakened to a 17-month low of 74.34 per US dollar as global markets slumped after the travel ban by the US and the declaration of coronavirus as a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation. It has, however, somewhat recovered from the lows to trade around 74.14 per greenback. The rupee hit its record low in October 2018, when it was 74.48.
The concerns of the coronavirus outbreak severely impairing the global economy have off late weighed on the investor sentiments across markets. The declaration of the disease as a pandemic late on Wednesday has further deepened the concerns. Along with the coronavirus fears, the fall in oil prices also led to the depreciation in the Indian currency.
