As coronavirus spreads across the world with several new cases emerging, the stock markets in India took a huge hit. The BSE Sensex fell by over 1,500 points on Monday. The Yes Bank fiasco was also a contributing factor.
As on 11 15 am, Sensex was trading 1,592.67 points lower (4.24% down) at 35,983.95 points. This is the lowest it has hit since January 2019.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nifty fell by over 400 points to trade below 10,600 points. Nifty reportedly hit a 15-month low.
Metal, financial, energy and IT stocks took a beating. Some of the biggest losers in the markets included Reliance Industries (down 8%), ONGC (down 11%), IndusInd Bank (down 7%), and Tata Steel (down 6%).
The freefall in stock markets in India came as global markets took a beating as well over fears of coronavirus and the impact it would have on global trade.
Yes Bank too contributed to the dampened investor sentiment after it was placed under a moratorium on Thursday night with a withdrawal cap of Rs 50,000. While debit cards are now functional for withdrawals at ATMs, swiping them at stores, online transactions still remain blocked causing immense trouble to account holders.
However, giving some relief, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unveiled a draft resolution plan for the bank where it said that SBI agreed to pick up upto 49% stake in Yes Bank.
On Friday night, the Enforcement Directorate detained co-founder and former MD&CEO of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor for questioning. He was grilled over the weekend and was arrested on Sunday over charges of money laundering. The arrest at the ED office in Ballard Estate in Mumbai followed over 20 hours of questioning by the central agency after it raided his residence on Friday night.
Crude oil prices too, fell sharply on Monday by over 30% as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OEPC) couldn’t come to an agreement over an output cut deal. This then led to Saudi Arabia cut its prices as it is likely to increase its production. Brent Crude futures are currently trading around $31 per barrel.
According to analysts, on Monday, the oil market saw the steepest fall in price since the 1991 Gulf War.