Indian stock markets plunged on Friday as banking stocks came under intense pressure after the Reserve Bank of India placed troubled lender Yes Bank under a moratorium and took over its board. Continued fears over the spread of COVID-19 infections also pushed the stocks down.
The BSE Sensex tanked 894 points to end the day at 37,577. This marks the lowest closing levels in over five months, according to NDTV. The Nifty 50, meanwhile, ended at 10,989, down 279.5 points or 2.48%.
Yes Bank was the worst performing stock on Nifty 50. The stock eventually settled at Rs 16, down 56%. State Bank of India closed around 6.5% lower at Rs 270. The state-owned bank said late on Thursday its board had given an in-principle approval to explore an investment opportunity in Yes Bank.
Other major Asian markets also fell sharply. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries declined 2.54%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng traded 2.23% lower, the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index closed 1.68% lower, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 2.72% lower. The Shanghai index closed 0.98% lower.
The Indian rupee closed at 73.79 against the US dollar, 46 paise lower.
The number of novel coronavirus cases across the globe rose to 97,510 as of Thursday night. Across the 85 countries with infections so far, 3,345 people have died. There are 31 infections so far in India.
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