Coronavirus Pandemic Triggers Historic Fall Of 2919 Points On the Sensex

It was an unprecedented day for the benchmark indices which witnessed one of the biggest ever falls in their history in terms of absolute numbers, with the Sensex falling a record 2,919 points, the worst ever in absolute terms in a single day.

It was a frightening day for the coronavirus triggered pandemic caused mayhem across the global markets, with most indices seeing very deep cuts ranging between 4 to 7 per cent. European markets were down 6 to 6.5 per cent, after US President Donald Trump restricted travel to the US from European countries, fearing the spread of the coronavirus in the US.

The Sensex ended the day lower by a staggering 2,919 points, while the Nifty ended the day lower by 868 points. It was one of the worst days in the history of the stock markets and investors may want to forget the last fortnight quickly.

All of the Nifty stocks ended the day in the red, which means 50 stocks of the Nifty ended lower and none ended higher. The biggest losers from the Sensex were ITC, SBI, Axis Bank, ONGC and HeroMotor Corp.

About 1000 stocks hit 52-week lows, during the trading session. Prominent among these included State Bank of India, LIC Housing Finance, Indian Oil, PNB Housing Finance, Coal India, TV Today Network, IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank and a host of others. There was absolutely no place to hide. Normally, investors tend to hide in stocks like HDFC Bank, but, that itself collapsed a huge 10 per cent.

Will the mayhem last?

The problem with the coronavirus led fall, is that it is highly unpredictable. It has locked-down an entire country like Italy and has forced Donald Trump to disallow travellers from Europe. This is unprecedented and has never been seen and heard before.

It has the potential to derail the world's economic growth, which is why the markets have reacted the way they have. It is unlikely that there will be any respite shortly, so one would need to be careful before investing. Unless, you are a long-term investor, it's best you stay on the sidelines.

GoodReturns.in