Market Wrap, Feb 10: Sensex slips 162 pts amid coronavirus scare

Tracking global peers, domestic stocks ended lower for the second consecutive day on Monday as uncertainties around coronavirus weighed on investor sentiment. The number of deaths from China's new virus epidemic jumped to 902 after the hardest-hit province of Hubei reported 91 new fatalities. 
 

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 162 points or 0.39 per cent to end at 40,980. During the session, the index witnessed 373-point swing. NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 12,031.50, down 67 points or 0.55 per cent.  

Metal stocks such as Tata Steel, Vedanta, SAIL, National Aluminium Company, (NALCO), and MOIL witnessed heavy selling after China’s metal association on Friday said  that the country's nonferrous metal output will fall at least 10 per cent YoY in February owing to coronavirus. Tata Steel also took a knock on poor Q3 numbers. The company posted loss of Rs 1,229 crore for December quarter. Shares of the company finally settled at Rs 444 apiece on the BSE, down around 6 per cent. 

On the upside, Avenue Supermarts pipped Bajaj Finserv in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap). The stock zoomed 11 per cent during the session to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 2,537 on the BSE. At close, the stock stood at Rs 2,484, up over 8.6 per cent while the m-cap was at Rs 1.5 trillion-mark. 

Volatility index India Vix climbed over 3 per cent to 14.18 levels. 

In the broader market, both mid and small-cap indices underperformed market. The S&P BSE MidCap index slipped around 0.8 per cent to settle at 15,781 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index lost 0.4 per cent to end at 14,776 levels. 

GLOBAL MARKETS

Global shares fell on Monday as the death toll from a coronavirus outbreak exceeded the SARS epidemic of two decades ago, though Chinese shares rose as authorities lifted some work and travel curbs, helping businesses to resume operations.

MSCI’s All Country World Index, which tracks shares across 47 countries, was down 0.2 per cent.

Shares in Asia registered a mixed performance.

In commodities, Brent crude futures eased 0.5 per cent to $54.22 a barrel while US crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to $49.97 a barrel. Since January 17, oil prices have fallen by 14 per cent while copper is down around 10 per cent.