Sensex Falls 1,600 pts, Nifty Below 10,000 as Coronavirus Declared Pandemic

Mumbai: Indian equity markets opened in red today with the BSE Sensex losing 1,672.09 points or 4.68% at 34025.31, and the Nifty plunging 490.40 points or 4.69% at 9,968 due to Coronavirus fear and global sell-off. Nifty has opened below 10,000 level for the first time since March 26, 2018.

About 87 shares have advanced, 924 shares declined, and 21 shares are unchanged. The Indian rupee declined in the early trade on Thursday as it opened lower by 61 paise at 74.25 per dollar versus previous close 73.64.

Global markets were also rattled today after the World Health Organization declared the Corona virus outbreak a “pandemic”. Dow Jones in US declined over 1400 points.

Equities in Asian markets also plunged sharply with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan declining 4.1 per cent to its lowest level since early 2019, and Japan’s Nikkei falling down 5.3 per cent. Australia’s benchmark lost 7.4 per cent while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 4.6 per cent to a four-and-a-half-year low.

On Wednesday (March 11), Indian equity benchmark indices ended on a flat note with the Sensex closing 62 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 35,697. The broader Nifty, however, ended at 10,458, up 7 points or 0.07 per cent.  Top gainers in the 30-pack Sensex included Hero MotoCorp, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and L&T, while Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, SBI, and Infosys ended significantly lower.