Market Wrap, March 17: Sensex slips 811 pts, Nifty ends at 3-yr low

There doesn't seem to be any respite for the bulls as markets once again ended with over 2.5 per cent cut on Tuesday amid escalating fears of economic dislocation due to coronavirus (Covid-19). 

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 811 points or 2.58 per cent to end at 30,579 with ICICI Bank (down 9 per cent) being the biggest loser and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) -- up around 3.5 per cent -- the biggest gainer. 

On the NSE, the frontline index Nifty50 breached the crucial 9,000-mark to settle at 8,967 levels, down 230 points or 2.5 per cent. Fear guage India VIX jumped around 7 per cent to 62.88 levels.

Among individual stocks, YES Bank continued to buck the trend and ended over 59 per cent higher at Rs 59 levels on the NSE. 

Infosys, on the other hand, tumbled 4.7 per cent amid Covid-19 fears. The stock hit a 52-week low today.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) cracked 20 per cent to Rs 133 apiece and hit an over 7-year low after reports said the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to a clutch of borrowers of the bank, including Essel group Chairman Subhash Chandra, Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal, Cox & Kings promoter Peter Kerkar, Dewan Housing Finance promoter Kapil Wadhawan, and a few more in connection with the money laundering probe against YES Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap slipped around 2 per cent to 11,670 points and the S&P BSE SmallCap ended at 10,844, down over 2 per cent.

Global Markets

Asian shares held their ground on Tuesday in a volatile session following one of Wall Street’s biggest one-day routs in history as headlines about the coronavirus outbreak and its global economic impact whiplashed investor sentiment. Australian shares closed 5.9 per cent higher, to record the biggest daily percentage gain since Oct 2008, following a nearly 10 per cent plunge on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, as was Japan’s Nikkei stock index which 

traded either side of even through a bumpy day. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 2.4 per cent. 

Futures trade pointed to a positive open in US and European markets.

In commodity markets, US crude ticked up 4.25 per cent to $29.92 a barrel. Brent crude also rose 2.40 per cent to $30.77 per barrel, but these gains are likely to be temporary. Gold, on the other hand, inched lower. 



Read by: Sukanya Roy