Sensex tanks 807 points as COVID-19 alarm spreads

All Sensex components ended in the red, with Tata Steel cracking 6.39%, followed by ONGC, Maruti, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bharti Airtel

Indian equity benchmark Sensex on Monday plunged about 807 points in line with massive sell-offs in global equities as a spike in new COVID-19 cases beyond China spooked investors.

The 30-share BSE gauge settled at 40,363.23, dropping 806.89 points or 1.96%.The broader NSE Nifty sank 251.45 points or 2.08% to 11,829.40.

All Sensex components ended in the red, with Tata Steel cracking 6.39%, followed by ONGC, Maruti, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bharti Airtel.

In a worrying sign for the global economy, the deadly COVID-19 is fast spreading beyond China.

South Korea went on high alert on Sunday following a sharp jump in COVID-19 cases, and Italy and Iran took their own drastic containment steps.

Further, the IMF also warned that the deadly epidemic could put an already fragile global economy recovery at risk.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said the COVID-19 epidemic is the country’s “largest public health emergency”. The death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 2,592 in China on Monday.

Seoul stocks ended in deep red after South Korea reported 161 more COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the overall virus cases to 763 and making it the world’s largest total outside China.

Bourses in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong also closed with significant losses.

Stock exchanges in Europe sank in opening trade with Milan’s FTSE MIB plunging over 4%, after Italy reported its fourth death from the virus as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount.

Brent crude oil futures dropped 3.62% to $55.84 per barrel.

On the domestic front, investors were eyeing U.S. President Donald Trump’s two-day visit to India for further cues on trade front. He reached Ahmedabad earlier in the day.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated by 21 paise to 71.87 per U.S. dollar (intra-day).

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