At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 1001.12 points or 3.36% at 28,814.47. The Nifty 50 index fell 281.20 points or 3.25% at 8,379.05.
The selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.44% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.79%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 773 shares rose and 1324 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 13 stocks advanced while 37 stocks declined.
Investors were concerned about the rising number of COVID-19 cases and the economic fallout of the worldwide lockdowns. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Friday (27 March) said the world has clearly entered a recession. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the global economy into a downturn that will require massive funding to help developing nations, she added.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Cipla (up 3.75%), Tech Mahindra (up 3.17%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (up 2.45%), BPCL (up 2.03%) and GAIL (India) (up 1.80%) were the top gainers.
Bajaj Finance (down 10.52%), HDFC (down 8.78%), JSW Steel (down 8.68%), Eicher Motors (down 7.01%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 6.74%) were the top losers.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 4.91%. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries informed that the company received a communication from the USFDA indicating that the Halol facility has been classified as Official Action Indicated (OAI). The OAI classification implies interalia that the USFDA may withhold approval of any pending product applications or supplements filed from this facility till the outstanding observations are resolved. The company continues to manufacture and distribute existing products for the US market, thereby not likely to have any adverse impact on current business from the facility.
IndusInd Bank slipped 0.58% to Rs 408.60. CRISIL has reaffirmed its 'CRISIL AA+/CRISIL AA/Stable/CRISIL A1+' ratings on the debt instruments of IndusInd Bank. The ratings reaffirmation reflects the healthy capitalisation levels with high core equity ratio and comfortable earnings profile marked by healthy pre-provisioning profits. These strengths are partially offset due to potential challenges in asset quality arising out of exposures to few stressed groups as well as impact on retail book due to economic slowdown and Covid-19, which will be an industry-wide phenomena. The resource profile for the bank is average with high share of bulk deposits, albeit, that retail deposits have been a focus area in recent years.
Hero MotoCorp slumped 5.67% to Rs 1566. The company said that in view of the various directives issued by the Central Government /concerned State Governments relating to lockdown and the need for social distancing, the operations at our plantsin India will continue to remain suspended beyond 31 March 2020 until 14 April 2020.
Global Markets:
European and Asian stocks fell across the board on Monday on weak risk appetite as the death toll from coronavirus pandemic surged, threatening the global economy as roughly one-third of the planet is on lockdown.
Global markets continue to take stock of the evolving coronavirus pandemic. The virus has already infected more than 720,000 people worldwide and caused at least 34,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly on Sunday extended the national social distancing guidelines to April 30, walking back his previous remarks that he wanted the country to reopen for business by Easter.
Meanwhile in Europe, the number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy fell for the second consecutive day on Sunday. A national lockdown looks certain to continue beyond April 3.
In US, stock indexes ended sharply lower on Friday, failing to get a lasting lift from approval by Congress of a $2 trillion economic stimulus package to counter the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but equities booked double-digit weekly gains to take back a chunk of losses seen this month
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