It was a massacre on Dalal Street on Thursday as domestic benchmark indices, after pausing the downward trend on the previous day, resumed their fall. S&P BSE Sensex tanked 2,919 points or 8.18 per cent while the border Nifty 50 index tumbled down below the 9,600 points falling 868 points or 8.30 per cent lower. “In line with the bearish trend in global markets, Indian markets witnessed a selloff across sectors along with panic selling in the broader markets. The selling further intensified in the afternoon session as cues in western markets continued to remain weak as news of further restrictions in businesses and shutdown due to virus scare was reported,” Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research-Investment Services, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers said.
Sensex records its worst fall ever: S&P BSE sensex fell by as much as 3,204 points or 8.98 per cent and at the end of the day’s trading settled slightly higher at a loss of 2,919 points, recording its worst ever fall. All of the 30-stocks that constitute the index traded in the red, the entire day. SBI was the biggest loser on S&P BSE Sensex, falling 13.23 per cent during the day.
Coronavirus now officially a pandemic: The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the Coronavirus is a pandemic on Wednesday and with that the already scared investors across the globe stepped-up the sell-off. “With the WHO declaring COVID-19 a Pandemic and with the delay in the US stimulus plan, the DOW was punished hence our markets as expected opened gap down. Our Markets witnessed frenzied selling throughout the day as almost everything was sold into with the VIX reaching alarming levels,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.
Nifty PSU Bank ends lowest among sectoral indices: The Nifty PSU Bank index tanked 13.15 per cent, most among all sectoral indices on NSE. The slump was aided by Canara Bank, which was down by almost 16 per cent. “The broader markets, BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap too ended in-line with the benchmark. All the sectoral indices witnessed heavy selling pressure with Banks, Oil & Gas and Metals being the top losers,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Investors lost Rs 11 lakh crore: According to the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms, investors lost Rs 11 lakh crore amidst the butchery on Dalal Street on Thursday. The market capitalisation of all BSE listed firms stood at Rs 137 lakh crore at the end of trading on Wednesday and the same tanked to Rs Rs 125 lakh crore when markets closed on Thursday.