Stock markets tread into bear zone

Mumbai : Indian equity benchmarks suffered their biggest ever one-day plunge to crash into bear territory on Thursday as the coronavirus pandemic left a trail of red across global financial markets.

After nosediving over 3,204.30 points on across-the-board selling, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 2,919.26 points or 8.18 per cent lower at 32,778.14. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty gave up the 9,600 level, slumping 868.25 points or 8.30 per cent to close at 9,590.15.

This was the biggest drop for the benchmarks in absolute terms, eclipsing their previous record one-day fall on Monday (March 9). The markets have now entered bear territory -- that is more than 20 per cent down from a recent high.

The Sensex and Nifty, which had hit their lifetime closing highs on January 14 this year, closed at more than 2-1/2-year lows on Thursday.

The carnage on Dalal Street eroded investor wealth worth Rs 11,27,160.65 crore, taking the total market capitalisation (m-cap) to Rs 1,25,86,398.07 crore on the BSE.

Global markets reeled after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic, and expressed deep concern over the "alarming levels of inaction".

US President Donald Trump suspended all travel from Europe, excluding the UK, to the US for the next 30 days. Countries across the world are imposing travel restrictions, fuelling fears of a global recession, analysts said.

All Sensex components ended in the red. SBI was the top loser, crashing 13.23 per cent, followed by ONGC, Axis Bank, ITC, TCS and Titan.