MARKET WRAP: Sell-off continues for 4th day; Sensex ends 392 pts lower

All that happened in markets today

Extending their losses for the fourth day in a row, benchmark indices ended Wednesday's highly volatile session in the negative territory as the rapid spread of coronavirus from its epicentre in China to other countries dented investors' risk appetite. So far, the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in China has crossed over 2,700, while the number of confirmed cases in mainland China hit 78,064, including 406 new cases. CLICK TO READ MORE

The S&P BSE Sensex ended below the crucial psychological level of 40,000 at 39,889, down 392 points or around a per cent. Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys, ICICI Bank, and HDFC contributed the most to the index's decline. Drug major Sun Pharma ended as the biggest loser on the index - down over 3.5 per cent while SBI ended as the biggest gainer on the index with half a per cent gain. 

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index closed the session at 11,678.5, down 119 points or 1 per cent with 44 out of 50 stocks ending in the red and just 6 in the green.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 index skid over a per cent to settle at 17,512 while the Nifty SmallCap 100 index ended at 5,992, down 34 points or 0.57 per cent. 

India VIX, the "fear guage", climbed over 8 per cent to 18.29 levels. 

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto index slipped the most - over 2 per cent to 7,208 levels. Nifty Metal index dropped 1.63 per cent to 2,430 while the Nifty Realty index ended at 297.50, down around 1.7 per cent. 

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares fell on Wednesday as a US warning to Americans to prepare for the possibility of a coronavirus pandemic jolted Wall Street yet again and pushed yields on safe-haven Treasuries to record lows. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.1 per cent. Japan was among the worst-performing market in the region, weighed by growing concerns the virus could force the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.36 per cent, German DAX futures fell 0.53 per cent, while FTSE futures were off 0.4 per cent. 

Crude prices edged up on Wednesday as investors covered short positions after three sessions of losses, even as fears deepened that the rapid spread of the coronavirus will lead to a global pandemic.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:05 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Increasing concern regarding coronavirus in the world over is impacting global market. The economic impact is expected to be worse than thought earlier forcing investors to stay away from risky assets. Domestic market is bracing for yet another subdued GDP growth, with a forecast of 4.6 per cent  to 4.7 per cent in Q3 compared to 4.5 per cent in Q2, which is adding to the fear.

3:45 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Auto stocks fall the most

3:44 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top losers and gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 392 points or 0.97 per cent to end below the crucial level of 40,000 at 39,889 while NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 11,678, down 119 points or 1 per cent.

3:25 PM

BROKERAGE RADAR | ICICI Securities on Consumer Discretionary

The Coronavirus has had a widespread impact across major economies and is now becoming a global emergency. China’s (the epicentre of Coronavirus) manufacturing capacities have shut down for over a month now, creating a supply disruption of finished goods/components for consumer durable companies operating in India. However, most vendors had already made provisions for inventory due to the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays. Hence, there may not be an immediate impact in the current quarter.

3:14 PM

NEWS ALERT | Sun Pharma launches Riomet WR in the US market

3:04 PM

NEWS ALERT | Vodafone Idea seeks govt support to facilitate balance of AGR dues, reports CNBC-TV18

3:02 PM

MARKET CHECK

2:56 PM

Contribution to S&P BSE Sensex's fall today

2:53 PM

Global Markets check

European shares fell for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, as investors fretted over the growing impact of a fast-spreading coronavirus that has pushed companies world-wide to sound the alarm on earnings.

Europe’s main equity benchmark STOXX 600 fell 0.8 per cent, marking its first five-day losing streak since July 2019.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday as a US warning to Americans to prepare for the possibility of a coronavirus pandemic jolted Wall Street yet again and pushed yields on safe-haven Treasuries to record lows.

That led MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.1 per cent. Japan was among the worst-performing market in the region, weighed by growing concerns the virus could force the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.

2:51 PM

Maruti Suzuki dips 3%

2:42 PM

MARKET CHECK | Vedanta slips nearly 2.5%

2:40 PM

Sensex at day's low

2:36 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

2:34 PM

Nifty sectoral indices at this hour