New Covid strain: Stock valuations were at 25-yr high before Monday's fall

The gravity-defying run on the Indian bourses came to an abrupt halt on Monday as investors braced for a fresh round of economic disruption after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus was detected in the United Kingdom. The benchmark indices witnessed their biggest one-day fall (in terms of points) since March this year. The widely traded Nifty50 closed the day 432 points lower (down 3.1 per cent), while the Sensex was down 1,407 points.

Many analysts believe a big correction was inevitable and the discovery of a new coronavirus strain was only a trigger. Prior to Monday’s fall, the Nifty50 had