Closing Bell: Nifty, Sensex Post Biggest One-Day Drop in 5 Years

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(Photo: Reuters)

Indian equity markets posted their second straight day of losses, roiled by weak global cues and rising cases of coronavirus in the country.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 5.17 percent over 19,00 points to 35,634.95, while the NSE Nifty 50 fell as much as 4.9 percent to trade at 10,451.45.

This was also the worst fall for the index since 24 August 2015. The 50-stock benchmark ended at its lowest level since 1 November 2018, reported BloombergQuint.

Market breadth remained in favour of the declines. 1,413 stocks ended the day with losses while only 175 managed to eke out gains.

Reliance Industries (132 points), ICICI Bank (45 points), TCS (38 points) and HDFC (34 points) were the top contributors to the Nifty downside in terms of points.

Wealth Worth Nearly Rs 5 Lakh Cr Wiped Off

Earlier, investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 5 lakh crore in early trade as equity markets crashed tracking global equity sell-off amid rising uncertainty over the economic impact of coronavirus outbreak, PTI reported.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 4,79,820.87 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,39,39,640.96 crore on the BSE.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,44,31,224.41 crore at the end of trading on Friday.

All Sensex components were trading in the red, led by losses in ONGC, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, L&T, ICICI Bank and Infosys.

Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,594.84 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in a free fall, plunging nearly 30 percent to $32.11 per barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia launched a price war in response to a failure by leading producers to strike a deal to support energy markets.

(With inputs from BloombergQuint & PTI.)