Sensex, Nifty Crash 15% In Three Trading Sessions On Coronavirus Fears

Extending sharp losses to the third day in a row, the benchmark indices crashed nearly 6 per cent on Wednesday to shed around 15 per cent so far this week. The S&P BSE Sensex swung 2,488.72 points during the day, rising to as high as 31,101.77 in the first half of the session and plummeting to a low of 28,613.05 in late-afternoon deals, as intense selling pressure amid rising croronavirus cases continued to hurt investors' sentiment. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark dived to as low as 8,407.05, before trimming some of those losses by the end of the highly volatile session. 

The Sensex crashed 1,710 points or 5.59 per cent to close at 28,869.51 and NSE Nifty 50 index dived 5.56 per cent or 498 points to settle at 8,468.80.

In all, the Nifty nosedived as much as 1,548 points or 15.55 per cent in three consecutive sessions, while the Sensex sank 16 per cent or 5,490 points. The HDFC twins, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance were among the biggest drags on the Sensex.

"Whenever this kind of correction happens, it takes 10-13 months for a meaningful bottom to be made. We did not see a reasonable correction since 2008 and one should not expect a recovery any time soon," AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital Market told NDTV over phone.

"Nifty can go down to 7,000-odd levels, as well," he added.

Banking and financial services shares were among the worst hit in Wednesday's session. Nifty Private Bank index slumped 7 per cent. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, Auto, Metal and Realty sector gauges also tumbled between 4-6 per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed heavy selling pressure as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes dropped 6 per cent each.

44 of 50 shares in the Nifty basket of shares ended lower.

IndusInd Bank was top Nifty loser; the stock crashed 25 per cent to Rs 456 as traders feared about its high exposure to the telecom space. Bharti Infratel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, UPL, Mahindra & Mahindra and JSW Steel also fell 7-22 per cent each.

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment, Yes Bank, ITC, Tata Steel, TCS and SBI were among the notable gainers.

The overall market breadth was extremely bearish as 1,994 shares ended lower while 387 closed higher on the BSE.