S&P BSE Sensex opened over 1,000 points lower & within minutes slipped 2,155.05 pts. The Nifty 50 index dropped 636.25 pts during the early trade today.
Mumbai| The selloff in the Indian share market continued for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday as the benchmark equity indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 slipped over 7 per cent in the opening deals to their lowest levels in over three years as cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) rose across the country and also across the world.
Benchmark indices plunged to their multi-year lows. BSE flagship Sensex was down 2,155 points to 26,714 while NSE benchmark Nifty fell 487 points to 7,981. Broader market indices followed their headline peers and sank over 7 per cent. Rs 7.22 lakh crore of investor wealth was wiped off in the first 15 mins of trading.
In the 30-share pack Sensex, all constituents traded in the red. Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest casualty of relentless selling as it plunged 13.63 per cent to Rs 1,013 while Bajaj Finance dived nearly 12 per cent.
IndusInd Bank and HCL Tech were others who plunged more than 10 per cent.
YES Bank, which had been on a dream run for the last four sessions, dived 20 per cent in morning trade as investors preferred to book profits.
Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers on the Sensex during the early trade slipping in the range of 8.89-13.19 per cent.
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The rupee is trading at record lows against the US dollar. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have withdrawn nearly Rs 70,000 crore on a net basis from the Indian markets in March so far as the coronavirus pandemic triggered fears of a global recession.
RBI issues advisory to its central office staff in Mumbai to work from home starting today; order to be effective till 31 March.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil futures rose over 1.61 per cent to USD 25.28 per barrel.
The number of global Covid-19 infections has shot past 2,00,000. Worldwide fatalities topped 8,000.
Cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.
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