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

News Snippets

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  • Staff unrest plagues craft beer manufacturer Bira as current and formaer employess allege delays in salary and other payments
  • Intel appoints India-origin Sachin Katti as CTO & AI chief
  • Sebi says there is no manufacturing activity reported from Gensol's EV plant in Pune
  • Shooting WC: Former world champion drops to last in 10m air rifle individual event as his rifle malfunctions
  • Shooting World Cup: Arjun Babuta misses gold by 0.1 pont, settles for silver in 10m air rifle while Radrankksh Patil and Arya Borse win silver in 10m air rifle mixed event
  • IPL: MI beat CSK as Rohit Sharma (76 no) and Suryakumar Yadav (68 no) make short work of PKBS bolwers. CSK, with 2 points from 8 matches, have reached a point of no return in this years' competition
  • IPL: RCB beat PKBS by 7 wickets as Virat Kohli (73 no) and D Padikkal (61) sizzle
  • After Bangladesh commented on the riots in bengal over the Waqf bill, the Indian government has asked it protect the minorities in its own country and stop commenting on India's internal affairs
  • PM Modi discussed collaboration in technical and innovation fields with Tesdla owner Elon Musk, who is visiting India before the imminent entry of his firm Starlink in the country
  • Murshidabad returning to normal after clashes over the Waqf bill, internet restored, curfew lifted
  • The murder of a 17-year-old boy sparked protests in Delhi's north-east area Seelampur
  • Allahabad HC stayed the demolition of a mosque in UP's Fatehpur after the district authorities order for razing it was challenged by the Masjid Waqf committee
  • Hyderabad Police pick up an alleged fraud accused from a hotel in Kolkata but Kolkata Police not kept in the loop. Relatives of the man file a missing complaint and FIR
  • An ICU technician was held in Gurugram's Medanta Hospital for sexually assaulting a patient
RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat calls for 'one temple, one well',as well as one crematorium, to end caste differences
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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.