Sensex plunges 2,919.26 points, Nifty ends at 9,633.10; Market witnesses biggest single day fall since 2008

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices on Thursday (March 12) witnessed the biggest single-day fall since 2008 with the Sensex closing down 2,919.26 points or 8.18% at 32,778.14, while the broader Nifty also ended down 825.30 points or 7.89% at 9,633.10. All the stocks on Nifty50 and BSE Sensex ended in the red, while all the sectoral indices also closed negative. 

The Sensex and the Bank Nifty closed at a two-year low while the Nifty ended at a near 3-year low. The midcap index has closed at a 39-month low. All the sector indices have closed below 52 weeks. The metal index has also closed at a 3-year low. Notably, the auto index also closed at a near 6-year low. Investors also lost Rs 10 lakh crore due to the fall of Sensex in a single-day, while investors at the broader Nifty lost about Rs 3 lakh crore.

Indian economy is also expected to decline by 0.5%, according to experts.

A few minutes ahead of the market closure, the BSE Sensex at 32,680.89, down by over 3,000 points. In intra-day trading on Thursday, equity benchmark Sensex crashed over 2,700 points and the broader Nifty sank below 9,700, wiping off over Rs 9 lakh crore worth investor wealth.

After opening around 1,200 points lower, equities continued their downward spiral, with domestic BSE Sensex plummeting 2,707.39 points to 32,990.01 in the morning session.

The 30-share index was trading 2,267.21 points, or 6.35 per cent, lower at 33,430.19 at 1230 hours. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty hit a low of 9,648.65, cracking 809.75 points. It was trading 658.55 points, or 6.30 per cent, down at 9,799.85.

During early hours today, equity benchmark indices fell sharply following the World Health Organisation (WHO) statement declaring coronavirus a global pandemic and also US President Donald Trump's announcement of a 30-day ban on travel to the United States from Europe over Covid-19.

At 10 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 1,793 points or 5.02 per cent to 33,904 while the Nifty 50 dipped by 526 points at 9,932. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were deep in red with Nifty metal down by 7.1 per cent, PSU bank by 7 per cent, realty by 6.8 per cent and auto by 5.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors was the top loser after dropping by over 11 per cent at Rs 87.80 per share. Yes Bank and State Bank of India slipped by 9.7 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively. The other prominent losers were Adani Ports, Titan, ONGC and GAIL.

Meanwhile, global shares crumbled after Trump announced a temporary travel ban from Europe in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. 

Investors worried over more disruptions to businesses and the world economy even as Trump said trade will not be affected by the restrictions.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan lost by 4.1 per cent to its lowest level since early 2019 while Japan`s Nikkei dropped by 5.3 per cent.

South Korea`s Kospi also plummeted by 4.16 per cent, Shanghai Composite declined 0.96 per cent and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index fell by 3.59 per cent. 

Notably, oil also slipped further as Russia and Saudi Arabia increase output and see prices fall. 

(With Agency Inputs)