The Sensex and Nifty 50 indices on Monday clocked their biggest losses in a single day since August 2015 as growing cases of the novel coronavirus coupled with the fall in crude oil prices triggered a global economic meltdown, Reuters reported. Nearly Rs 7 lakh crore investor wealth was wiped out, according to PTI.
The Sensex settled 1,941.67 points lower at 35,634.95. At one point earlier in the day, the index had lost 2,467 points. The National Stock Exchange Nifty 50 dropped by 538 points to close at 10,451.45.
Shares of Reliance Industries slumped almost 14% in intraday trade after global crude oil prices lost as much as a third of their value on Monday, reported The Economic Times. This is the biggest single-day fall for the stock in at least 10 years. Shareholders of the company lost over Rs 1.08 lakh crore in a single day.
The coronavirus epidemic, which has killed over 3,500 people globally and infected over 1,00,000, has raised fears of an economic slowdown and affected the markets. The crisis at Yes Bank, revealed over the weekend, also affected investor sentiment in India on Monday. A major drop in crude oil prices around the world contributed to the gloom in the markets, Mint reported.
Not a single stock gained on the Sensex on Monday. The biggest loser was Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which cracked over 16%, followed by Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services.
Meanwhile, the shares of State Bank of India sank over 6% after the bank announced it will pick up a 49% stake in Yes Bank for Rs 2,450 crore. Yes Bank, on the other hand, rallied over 31%.
On the Nifty 50, the only gainers were Yes Bank, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Bharti Infratel and Eicher Motors. The stocks that declined the most were ONGC, Vedanta, Reliance Industries, Zee Entertainment and IndusInd Bank.
Other major Asian markets also traded in red on Monday. The Shanghai SE Composite Index was the least hit, closing 91.22 points, or 3.01% down. The Hong Kong Hang Seng declined 3.90% or 1021.02 points. The Australia ASX All Ordinaries closed 465.10 points (7.40%) in red. The Taiwan TSEC 50 Index ended 344.17 points, or 3.04% down.
The Indian rupee traded 13 paise down at 74 to the US dollar.
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