People walk in front of the BSE in Mumbai, India, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Asian stock markets fell further Friday on spreading virus fears, deepening an global rout after Wall Street endured its biggest one-day drop in nine years. (Image: AP Photo) People walk in front of the BSE in Mumbai, India, Friday, Feb. 28, 2020. Asian stock markets fell further Friday on spreading virus fears, deepening an global rout after Wall Street endured its biggest one-day drop in nine years. (Image: AP Photo)

BSE Sensex, Nifty Today: The benchmark equity market indices on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) crashed over 3.5 per cent each on Friday tracking steep losses in the global markets over fears of coronavirus outbreak turning into a pandemic.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1,448.37 points (3.64 per cent) to settle at 38,297.29. During the day, the 30-share BSE benchmark slipped as much as 1,525.69 points (3.84 per cent) to 38,219.97.

The broader Nifty 50 index on the NSE slipped 431.55 points (3.71 per cent) to end at 11,201.75. The 50-share frontline index had fallen 458.25 points (3.94 per cent) to 11,175.05 during the intraday trade on Friday.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in a sea of red on Friday with the Nifty Metal index being the top loser of the day, as it crashed 7.34 per cent. It was followed by the Nifty IT index which fell 5.27 per cent and Nifty PSU Bank index which slipped 4.97 per cent.

In the broader market, the Nifty 500 index on the NSE ended at 9,252.10, down 327.25 points (3.42 per cent). On the BSE, the S&P BSE MidCap index settled at 14,600.02, down 472.17 points (3.13 per cent), while the S&P BSE SmallCap index cracked 500.47 points (3.52 per cent) to end the day at 13,709.01.

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Owing to this severe fall in markets, the domestic investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 5 lakh crore on Friday. More than 1,700 BSE-listed stocks, mostly from the mid-cap and small-cap space, witnessed heavy selloff on Friday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the virus could become a pandemic as the outbreak spreads to major developed economies such as Germany and France. Around 10 countries have reported their first cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, including Nigeria, which is the biggest economy in the African continent.

“Increase in new virus cases is diluting investor wealth across the globe. On the domestic front broad-based selling was witnessed with sectors having global exposure like Metals & IT being impacted the most. Market is yet to quantify the exact economic impact of the on-going virus concerns but further acceleration could pose risk in short to medium term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said in a post-market comment.

Global Markets

The rising fears over coronavirus sent global share markets crashing again on Friday, compounding their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis and bringing the wipeout in value terms to $5 trillion.

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MSCI’s all-country world index, which tracks almost 50 countries, was down over 1 per cent when the European indices opened and almost 10 per cent for the week – the worst since October 2008.

Wall Street

In the US, the Wall Street shares led the rout as the S&P 500 fell 4.42 per cent, its largest percentage drop since August 2011, on Thursday. It has lost 12 per cent since hitting a record close on February 19, marking its fastest correction ever in just six trading days while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,190.95 points, its biggest points drop ever.

Asian Shares

In Asia, the MSCI’s regional index excluding Japan cracked 2.7 per cent. The Japanese Nikkei slumped 4.3 per cent on rising fears that the Olympics planned in July-August may be called off due to the coronavirus.

Follow | Coronavirus outbreak LIVE updates

In China, the CSI300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen shares fell 2.9 per cent, on track for its first weekly loss in three weeks.

Crude oil

Brent crude oil futures dropped 3.38 per cent to $49.98 a barrel as traders turned jittery about the impact of coronavirus on crude demand, particularly from key consumer China.

(with inputs from Reuters and PTI)

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