The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes suffered their biggest single-day selloff ever as they entered the bear market on Thursday wiping out Rs 11.42 lakh crore of investors' wealth. The Nifty 50 crashed as much as 9 per cent or 950 points to 9,508 during the session - its lowest level recorded since June 2017 and the S&P BSE Sensex dropped as much as 8.97 per cent or 3,204 points to 32,493 - its lowest in 23 months. The investor sentiment - which has been shaky in the past few weeks in the backdrop of the fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak - took a further beating after the World Health Organisation declared the deadly virus as a pandemic.
The last time Indian stock indexes dropped as much was at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.
The virus outbreak heightened worries over the Indian economy, which was already slowing, with the recent collapse of Yes Bank adding to concerns over the country's financial sector.
"We were on a shaky economy and we thought bottom was hit in December 2019. But now 8,800 on Nifty is a possibility," market expert Ajay Bagga told NDTV.
"Technical bounce is expected next week but overall the sentiment is totally wiped out and we expect markets go down further," Mr Bagga said. "Corporate earnings in the next quarter will be bad and dimension for global markets have changed," he added.
All the 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's over 13 per cent slump. Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Realty, Pharma, Metal, Media, IT, Financial Services and Auto sector gauges also dropped between 8-10 per cent each.
Selloff was broad-based as mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed a massive selloff. The Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped 8 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index plunged 10 per cent.
All shares in the Nifty 50 basket ended lower with 27 of them closing at new 52-week low levels. Yes Bank was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 13 per cent. UPL, Vedanta, Hindalco, ONGC, State Bank of India, GAIL India, Axis Bank, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, Adani Ports and Indian Oil were also among the top losers, down between 10-12.95 per cent each.
HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank and ITC were among the biggest drags on the Sensex, they collectively wiped out over 1,800 points from the Sensex.
The Sensex cracked 2,919.26 points - or 8.18 per cent - to close at 32,778.14 and the Nifty dropped 868.25 points - or 8.3 per cent - to settle at 9,590.15.
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