India / Sensex plunges 1129 points, markets open in red amid coronavirus fears

Mumbai: Indian stock markets fell sharply today with Sensex tanking nearly 1,200 points amid a global selloff on concerns that the coronavirus would significantly slow down economic activity. The Yes Bank crisis also hurt the sentiment. A significant dip in global oil prices failed to lift the domestic sentiment as increasing cases of coronavirus cases in India and concerns about domestic economic growth weighed on the market mood.

The Sensex slumped to 36,388.28 while the broader Nifty tanked nearly 3% to 10,675. The rupee also fell sharply against the US dollar today.

Here are 10 updates from Indian stock markets:

The Yes Bank crisis continued to weigh on banking stocks with Nifty Bank index falling over 3%.

The rupee today weakened past 74 levels against the US dollar.

Asian equity markets collapsed today with Japan’s Nikkei slumping over 6% as the rapidly spreading coronavirus fuels fears of a global recession while a crash in oil prices added to the panic.

Dow futures were down 1,200 points today, indicating a sharp selloff on Wall Street when it later in the day resumes trading.

Oil prices fell over 30% today, the most since the start of the first Gulf War of 1991, after Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia by slashing its prices and pledging to rump up supply in a market already reeling from falling demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Brent crude futures fell by as much as $14.25, or 31.5%, to $31.02 a barrel.

“Markets seem to be in a bearish trend with heightened volatility for the time being and investors will be watchful for any news regarding the number of coronavirus cases around the world,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Moody’s Investors Service said global spread of the coronavirus is expected to materially slow economic activity, particularly in the first half of this year.

And “the longer the outbreak affects economic activity, the demand shock will dominate and lead to recessionary dynamics,” it added.

Several key macroeconomic data announcements are also scheduled during the week. Industrial production and retail inflation rate will be released on Thursday and WPI inflation on Friday.