Sensex plunges 458 points, world stocks skid as virus scare pervades
The deadly caronavirus struck the global equity market in a vicious way on Monday as China reported more cases of infection that is respecting no geographical boundaries. Driven by fear and uncertainty about the impact of the virus outbreak on global economy, exchanges across the world saw sharp selloff and oil prices co lapsed.
In India, equity benchmark Sensex on Monday clocked its second biggest fall in four months, dragged mainly by financial and metal counters as investors fear grew over the fast-spreading virus outbreak in China.
At close, the BSE gauge Sensex was 458.07 points, or 1.10 per cent, down at 41,155.12. Intra-day, the index cracked nearly 500 points. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty ended 129.25 points, or 1.06 per cent, down at 12,119.
On the Sensex chart, Tata Steel was the top loser, dropping 4.31 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, PowerGrid and HDFC.
The Dow tumbled by nearly 500 points on opening. The S&P 500 (SPX) was down 1.6 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) was down 2.1 per cent.
European exchanges also traded more than 2 per cent lower on Monday, continuing their selloff from the previous week. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.9 per cent to 5,907.40, while Germany’s DAX skidded 1.7 per cent to 13,342.32.
Many Asian markets, including China’s, were closed for Lunar New Year holidays, while Australia was closed for Australia Day. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index caved in by 2 per cent to 23,343.51
Investors across the world are worried that if the second-largest economy in the world fails to recover in time from the viral outbreak, then its economy could take a big hit, which will also drag down the world economy.
While fear of economic slowdown spooked the oil prices that have corrected by more than 15 per cent during the last ten days, safe-haven assets rallied higher on Monday. The price of gold climbed 0.8 per cent to $1,583.60 per ounce.
Brent crude futures traded around 3 per cent lower on Monday at $58.88 a barrel, their lowest level since October. US crude futures were down roughly 3 per cent.
News agency PTI quoted S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities, as saying, “Coronavirus outbreak in China took a toll on Indian equities as well today as financials and metals bore the brunt of the selling. Except for select pharmaceutical stocks which held fort and gained
the broader markets traded weak.”
Meanwhile, India on Monday decided to prepare for possible evacuation of Indian nationals from Wuhan city in the pathogen-hit Chinese province of Hubei.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, which carried out a detailed review of the situation arising out of outbreak of Coronavirus in China where 80 people have died and over 2,000 infected with the disease.
Officials said the External Affairs Ministry will request to Chinese authorities for evacuation of Indians from Wuhan.
In view of a confirmed case of coronavirus in Nepal, the Centre has asked the five States bordering the neighbouring nation (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim) to be alert and keep hospitals ready to meet any emergency. After airports and border areas, it has now initiated entry screening at the international ports having traffic from China.
In India, a few suspected cases have been reported altogether from Patna, Mumbai and Rajasthan, but none yet confirmed. In Patna, a woman who returned from China last week was admitted to a Patna hospital on Monday with symptoms similar to those of coronavirus.
Samples of 12 passengers have been referred to National Institute of Virology, Pune. No positive case has been reported so far, the Union Health Ministry said.
Over 100 people have been kept under observation in Kerala and Maharashtra following screening for a possible exposure to the novel coronavirus. One person each from Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Pathanamthitta and Malappuram and three from Ernakulam are in isolation wards of various health centres in the State.
The Union Health Ministry on Monday said health teams have been deployed in areas along the border with Nepal at Panitanki in West Bengal and Jhulaghat and Jauljibi in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh.
The hospitals in the national capital, AIIMS and RML Hospital, have set up isolation wards and kept beds ready to provide treatment to any suspected case of the novel coronavirus infection if the need arises.
Experts from the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) visited Dr RML Hospital here on Monday to inspect the isolation ward and review the hospital’s preparedness for management and control of the nCoV2019 infection.
As on 26th January, 29,707 passengers from 137 flights have been screened for novel coronovirus infection symptoms and no case has so far been detected in India.
A 24x7 NCDC call centre (+91-11-23978046) has been made operational to monitor the list of contacts furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs; provide details of district and state surveillance officers to those who seek them; and in case of any clinical query, direct the concerned to the relevant Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) officer. Thermal screening is being done at seven designated airports -- New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.
