Sensex Ends 800 Pts Lower, Nifty Down 2% As Global Equities Bleed On Coronavirus Scare

On Monday, stock markets around the world experience sell-off on the sudden surge in coronavirus cases in South Korea, Italy and the Middle East, raising fears of the spread in epidemic outside China.

BSE's Sensex closed 806.89 points lower at 40,363.23 and NSE's Nifty 50 ended points of 2.01 percent down at 11,838.60.

Weak sentiments prevailed in the global markets with USA's S&P 500 Futures pointing to a 2.47 percent fall, pushing Indian indices lower.

Among top losers in the Indian stock markets were Tata Steel (-6.28%) and ONGC (-4.82%), however, losses in HDFC Bank and RIL contributed largely to Sensex's fall on Monday.

Among sectors, metal stocks were worst hit on Monday. Nifty Metal closed 5.46 percent lower.

South Korea's Kospi index closed 3.9 percent lower while Italy's FTSE MIB plunged over 900 points in early trade.

The pan-European benchmark Stoxx 600 fell nearly 3 percent, dragged lower with sharp falls in Britain's FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX.

On Sunday, third death from coronavirus was reported in Italy, with confirmed cases spiking by more than 130 since Friday.

In South Korea, the country's government has raised the coronavirus alert to its highest level after the number of confirmed cases escalated from 31 to 763 in less than a week. The death toll has increased to seven.

Another surprising development in the epidemic is the death of at least 4 people in Iran last week, where there were no reported COVID-19 cases before. The death toll has now reached 12 and 61 cases were reported, causing the closure of schools and universities in the country.

The sudden surge of cases outside China has raised fears that it could be transformed into a global pandemic.

On Friday, WHO said that the fact that these cases were not linked to Wuhan or China was "very worrisome."

On Monday, economists at Citi said that the spread of fear of the virus is faster than the spread of the virus itself.

Demand for safe-haven assets like gold surged as investors ran for cover away from riskier equities.