Market Ahead, March 12: Top factors that could guide markets today

Investors are staring at another day of bloodbath at the Dalal Street today after the World Health Organisation declared the new Coronavirus outbreak as 'pandemic' and the US Dow Jones entered bear market territory.

Globally, over 119,400 confirmed cases of Coronavirus have been reported among which over 4,300 people have succumbed to the virus. In India, the number of cases rose to 60 after 10 cases were confirmed in Maharashtra yesterday. The government has suspended all tourist and medical visas till April 15 and asked Indians to avoid foreign travel.

Meanwhile, the rapid spread of the coronavirus has left investors tallying the economic damage of the virus. Wall Street stocks plunged on Wednesday, with the Dow confirming a bear market for the first time since the financial crisis. All three major US stock averages ended the session sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,465 points, the S&P 500 lost 141 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 392 points.

In an address this morning, US President Donald Trump suspended all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days even as he urged Congress to pass tax relief measures in an attempt to combat the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the US economy.

The share markets elsewhere also registered deep cuts. European shares closed at a 14-month low even after Britain announced a $39 billion war chest to soften the impact of the coronavirus. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.27 per cent in early trade while Nikkei fell 4 per cent. Australia's benchmark was down 2.8 per cent. Things look bleak for the Indian equity markets too with the SGX Nifty plunging 500 points, indicating a gap-down start for the Sensex and Nifty.

While coronavirus and the global sell-off will remain the main triggers today, investors will also watch out for some key macro numbers to be released today. January's industrial and manufacturing production data and retail inflation for February are slated to be declared later in the day.

Besides, market participants will also track the oil price movement and the Rupee's trajectory. Oil prices slipped on Thursday with Brent crude down 2.12 per cent at $35.03 per barrel and the rupee recovered 49 paise to settle at 73.68 against the US dollar on Wednesday.