Sensex, Nifty See Worst Fall In 4 Years On Rising Global Recession Fears

Reflecting its global peers, Indian stock market indices slipped into a deeper correction on Friday, the sixth consecutive trading day of decline.

BSE's Sensex closed 1,448.37 points or 3.64 percent lower at 38,297.29 while NSE's Nifty 50 fell 3.7 percent or 431.55 points to 11,201.75, recording their worst single-day fall since August 2015.

Global stock markets are heading for their worst week since the 2008 financial crisis as investors continued pulling out of risky assets over fears of coronavirus turning into a pandemic.

Major indexes have suffered a decline that sent them more than 10 percent below their record highs.

China's Shenzhen component was 4.8 percent lower at 10,980.77 while the Shenzhen composite dropped 4.92 percent. The Shanghai composite closed 3.71 percent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped more than 2.5 percent at its final hour of trading.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.67 percent to close at 21,142.96 while the Topix index fell 3.65 percent. South Korea's Kospi was down 3.3 percent and S&P/ASX 200 in Australia closed 3.25 percent lower on Friday. European shares were trading lower with pan-regional STOXX 600 down by 3 percent.

In recent days, the spread of coronavirus outside China, where the infection was first reported, has caused panic. The potential impact of the disease on global economic growth and corporate earnings have driven investors out of equities to safer assets.

Hopes that the epidemic will be over and things will return to normal have been shattered as reports of new infections around the world have surpassed those in China.