oppn parties Stock Markets In A Free Fall, Sensex Loses 1600 Points

News Snippets

  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
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  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
Stock Markets In A Free Fall, Sensex Loses 1600 Points

By Ashwini Agarwal
First publised on 2020-03-09 12:55:44

The twin issues of the rapid spread of coronavirus (and the consequent disruption in business) along with the uncertainty over the future of Yes Bank spooked the stock market big time today with the indices going into a free fall. The Sensex has gone down by over 1600 points intra-day while the Nifty slid by 453 points. The mood is one of despondency as many counters have only sellers.

The Indian markets took their cue from the global bourses. Stock markets the world over were down by anything from 3 to 5 percent as the already slowing world economy was expected to suffer a prolonged downturn due to the travelling bans and shipment rescheduling as a result of the coronavirus scare. As more and more positive cases of the disease come to fore across the globe, business productivity is expected to plunge sharply, leading to companies reporting lower profits or even losses. This has eroded customer confidence.

Closer home, despite assurances from the RBI and the interest shown by the SBI and other investors to seriously take up the rebuilding of the troubled Yes Bank, investor confidence is shaken. The markets were already discounting the continuing slowdown in the economy when the coronavirus scare struck. Now the Yes Bank episode has taken the winds totally out of the bulls' sails. Even the report that Brent crude has tumbled to below $40 a barrel and is expected to touch $30 within a short period has failed to improve sentiments. Foreign investors are selling in a big way and the Indian institutions have not been able to pick up all they are selling.

Equities are expected to be under selling pressure in the coming weeks. Investors would be advised not to go long yet. But if the markets continue to slide, there may come a time in a couple of weeks when some stocks will be available at a price too attractive to ignore. That would be the right time for any long term player to make his or her move.