Coronavirus Continue to Put Indian Markets Under Pressure

The Union Health Minister Harsha Vardhan confirmed that there are 22 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday. This put immense pressure on the Indian stock markets as the total confirmed infections touch 28. The Indian markets witnessed tremendous selling pressure today. Out of the 28 confirmed coronavirus cases in India, 16 are Italians. 

The Indian benchmark indices have stumbled and have lost nearly 2% by the end of Wednesday. Both Nifty and Sensex tried to make a recovery but was not enough to close in the positive terrain. The NSE Nifty 50 closed the day at 11,251 points, down by 0.46% or 52 points. 22 stocks in the Nifty index closed in the green while the rest 28 in red. 

The BSE Sensex closed the day well below 39,000 points. It settled at 38,40, which is 0.55% or 214 points lower. 17 of the 30 stocks in the BSE Sensex lost while the rest 13 surged. The volatility index (VIX) closed at 24.23, down by 1%. The market breadth remains on the sellers’ side as 1706 companies of the 2,534 dropped while 696 of them shot up. However, 132 companies didn’t see any changes.

Also Read: Sensex and Nifty Plummet Further Amidst Global Fall

The broader markets saw steep cuts. The S&P BSE MidCap index lost 2% or 338 points to settle at 14,425 points. The S&P BSE SmallCap index closed the day 2.5% or 346.5 points lower at 13,427 points. IT and pharma gained the most while the sectors of metal, bank, and media went the other way of the graph.

The Asian shares have continued their struggle on Wednesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Aisa-Pacific shares outside Japan has shot up by 0.2%. This is attributed to the South Korean government announcing a package of incentives. The Japenese Nikkei settled flat, while S&P/ASX of Australia dropped 1.7%.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at vineeth.nc@cleartax.in