Corona carnage: Sensex crashes 1,448 pts; Rs 5.45 lakh cr investor wealth wiped off

Sensex logged its second-biggest one-day fall in history on Friday as concerns over rapidly-spreing coronavirus triggered a manic global sell-off. World markets sank deeper into red, posting ir worst week since 2008 financial crisis, on fears that virus outbreak could tip global ecomy into a recession.

list of countries hit by Covid-19 grew to 57, with New Zealand, Nigeria, Azerbaijan and Nerlands reporting ir first cases. Continuing its downward spiral for sixth straight session, 30-share BSE Sensex ended 1,448.37 points, or 3.64 per cent, lower at 38,297.29.

This was benchmark's second-worst drop in absolute terms after August 24, 2015, when it h plunged 1,624.51 points. Similarly, broer NSE Nifty sank 431.55 points or 3.71 per cent to end at 11,201.75. carn in equity markets wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 5,45,452.52 crore, with total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies standing at Rs 1,46,94,571.56 crore.

m-cap of BSE-listed companies was at Rs 1,52,40,024.08 crore at end of tring on Thursday. During week, Sensex plunged 2,872.83 points or 6.97 per cent, and Nifty tumbled 879.10 or 7.27 per cent. Barring ITC, all Sensex constituents finished with losses on Friday. Tech Mahindra plunged 8.14 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (7.57 per cent), Mahindra and Mahindra (7.50 per cent), HCL Tech (6.98 per cent), Bajaj Finance (6.24 per cent) and Infosys (5.95 per cent).

All BSE sectoral indices ended in red, with metal, IT, teck, basic materials, industrials, energy, finance, auto and bankex skidding up to 7.01 per cent.

"Increase in new virus cases is diluting investor wealth across globe. On domestic front bro-based selling was witnessed with sectors having global exposure like metals & IT being impacted most.

"Market is yet to quantify exact ecomic impact of on-going virus concerns but furr acceleration could pose risk in short to medium term," said Vid Nair, He of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Furr, incessant selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) spooked retail investors, trers said. According to provisional data available with stock exchanges, so far this week, FPIs have offloed stocks worth Rs 9,389 crore on a net basis. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ended up to 3.71 per cent lower. Stock exchanges in Europe plunged up to 4 per cent in ir morning sessions.

In overnight tre on Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Aver dropped 1,190.95 points, its largest one-day fall in history. Brent crude oil futures dropped 3.38 per cent to USD 49.98 per barrel as trers turned jittery about impact of coronavirus on crude demand, particularly from key consumer China. On currency front, Indian rupee tumbled 55 paise to 72.16 per US dollar (intra-day).