Sensex crashes 1,140 points as virus fears threaten the world
Equity indices came down crashing on early hours on Friday as virus fears loom large across the world. Asian stocks in China, Japan and South Korea posted heavy losses after an overnight plunge in Wall Street's benchmarks.
FollowMumbai: Equity indices crumbled during early hours on Friday as global share prices headed for the worst week since the world financial crisis in 2008 and investors readied for the coronavirus to become a pandemic.
At 10 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 1,140 points or 2.87% to 38,605 while the Nifty 50 dipped by 353 points or 3.03% at 11,280.
All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 4.6%, realty by 3.89%, IT by 3.36% and pharma by 2.32%.
Among stocks, Tata Motors skidded by 7.44% at Rs 134.45 per share. Metal major too suffered with Hindalco dipping by 5.6%, Tata Steel by 5.5%, Vedanta by 5.4% and JSW Steel by 4.8%.
Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Wipro were down by over 3.7% each.
Meanwhile, global share markets headed for the worst week since the depths of the 2008 financial crisis as investors moved away from risky assets on fears the coronavirus will become a pandemic and derail economic growth.
Asian stocks in China, Japan and South Korea posted heavy losses after an overnight plunge in Wall Street's benchmarks.
MSCI's regional index excluding Japan shed 1.4% while Japan's Nikkei gave up 3.3% on rising fears that the Olympics planned in July and August may be called off due to the coronavirus.
South Korean shares dropped by 2.1% as new infections reported around the world now surpass those in China.
Meanwhile, US markets saw the biggest sell-off in over a decade on Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by 1,191 points to close at 25,767. The S&P 500 slid by 4.4% the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 4.6%.
With ANI InputsÂ
