Should the Retail Investor be Worried About the Second COVID Wave?

With news of a lockdown in Maharashtra looming, BSE Sensex lost over 4,400 points on Monday, 12 April.

The Big Story Podcast on Impact of COVID-19 Second Wave on the Indian Stock Market. Image used for representation only,

(Photo: The Quint)

The second wave of COVID-19 in India has brought back fears of a disruption in economic recovery, with Dalal Street taking a hit as investors’ sentiments dipped.

On Monday, 12 April, Sensex lost over 4,400 points from a record high of 52,516 on 16 February. Nifty, on the other hand, fell below the 14,600 against a record high of 15,431.

Investors are spooked over the fact that the states impacted by the second wave contribute significantly to India’s GDP. Maharashtra, the worst-hit state contributes 13.7 percent, followed by Karnataka (8 percent), Gujarat (7.8 percent), Rajasthan (4.9 percent), Madhya Pradesh (4.2 percent) and Punjab (2.7 percent).

What is more worrisome is that it took just 47 days for India to cross the 1,00,000 daily COVID-cases mark, compared to the first wave that took 102 days to peak.

The Indian market has been witnessing strong bouts of volatility since the beginning of March when cases started spiking again. So, with rising cases, should individual investors be worried about the money they have parked, or is this just another opportunity to buy low and sell high?

To break down what these COVID rising cases mean for the individual investor, for today’s episode, we sit down with Niraj Shah, the Markets Editor for Bloomberg Quint, to discuss where the markets stand at the moment and the way forward.