Nifty and the Sensex slips again
The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic in India just seem to extend as the Sensex on Monday slipped over 1900 points. On the other hand, Nifty also shed over 400 points in the opening session. Nifty opened at 9,455.60 while Sensex opened at 32,105.19 points. After closing at 73.91 on Friday, the Indian rupee opened lower at 74.11 against the US dollar. HDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI, Sun Pharma, JSPL, Max Financial, and DLF were the major losers in the indices whereas Yes Bank was the major gainer. After emergency rate cuts in the US and New Zealand, the markets around the world are hammered as over 6000 people have died and over 1, 25,000 people around the world are affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Glimpses of Recovery
Amid hopes of coordinated measures to contain COVID-19 virus, the Indian market showed signs of recovery on Friday. In the previous session, Nifty settled 3.81 percent, or 365.05 points, up at 9,955.20. It hit an intra-day low of 8,555.15. The BSE Barometer also settled 4.04 percent or 1325.34 points higher at 34,103.48. Most of the Sensex components ended with gains.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said, “We are closely monitoring the current global situation. We assure that we will take all the market steps to keep markets adequately liquid and stable. Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said the government and the RBI will take all necessary steps to quell the ‘fear sentiment’ created due to the coronavirus outbreak. On Friday, SEBI said that the regulator and the stock exchanges are prepared to take any action as required to deal with market volatility.
