Market Wrap, March 12: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Indian equity markets went on a free-fall on Thursday as investors pressed and held the 'sell' button after the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a "pandemic". The carnage on Dalal Street had eroded investor wealth worth over Rs 11 trillion in the stock markets till 11:10 am today. Overall, the Indian headline indices Sensex and Nifty both slipped over 9 per cent each in intra-day and posted their biggest one-day fall in absolute terms. 

The S&P BSE Sensex which ended the session 2,919 points lower at 32,778 dropped as low as 32,493.10, a two-year low. Index-heavyweights HDFC Bank (down 9%), Reliance Industries, and HDFC (down over 7%) contributed the most to the Sensex's fall. Besides, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, ITC, and ONGC all slid over 13 per cent each.

The broader Nifty50 index opened below the psychological level of 10,000 for the first time since March 26, 2018 and slid as low as 9,508 levels. The index closed the day at 32-month low level of 9,633, down 825 points, or 7.89 per cent. The index has now entered bear market after falling over 20 per cent from the recent high. All the Nifty sectoral indices were painted red. Nifty PSU Bank index, down over 13 per cent, bled the most.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index and the S&P BSE SmallCap indexes were both slumped over 1,100 points each intra-day.

Global Markets

Financial markets reeled on Thursday as stocks dived and oil slumped after U.S. President Donald Trump took the dramatic step of banning travel from Europe to stem the spread of coronavirus, threatening more disruptions to trade and the world economy.

Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 plunged 8.3% to their lowest levels since mid-2016. They were last down 6.9% while investors rushed to safe-haven assets from bonds to gold to the yen and the Swiss franc.

U.S. S&P 500 futures ESc1 plummeted as much as 4.9% in Asia and last traded down 3.6%, a day after the S&P 500 .SPX lost 4.89%, leaving the index on the brink of entering bear market territory, defined as a 20% fall from a recent top.

 

Read by: Sukanya Roy