Global Stock Mkts Tumble, Sensex Tanks 2.5k Points

Equity benchmark indices fell sharply during early hours on Thursday, a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic and US President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on travel to the United States from Europe over Covid-19.

Oil also slipped further as Russia and Saudi Arabia increase output and see prices fall.

At 10 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 1,793 points or 5.02 per cent to 33,904 while the Nifty 50 dipped by 526 points at 9,932.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were deep in red with Nifty metal down by 7.1 per cent, PSU bank by 7 per cent, realty by 6.8 per cent and auto by 5.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors was the top loser after dropping by over 11 per cent at Rs 87.80 per share. Yes Bank and State Bank of India slipped by 9.7 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively.

Metal stocks suffered heavy losses with Tata Steel down by 9 per cent, Vedanta by 8.7 per cent and JSW Steel by 7.9 per cent. The other prominent losers were Adani Ports, Titan, ONGC and GAIL.

Meanwhile, global shares crumbled after Trump announced a temporary travel ban from Europe in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Investors worried over more disruptions to businesses and the world economy even as Trump said trade will not be affected by the restrictions.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan lost by 4.1 per cent to its lowest level since early 2019 while Japan’s Nikkei dropped by 5.3 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi also plummeted by 4.16 per cent, Shanghai Composite declined 0.96 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell by 3.59 per cent. (ANI)