Coronavirus impact: Global indices sink as Chinese market stays afloat

Coronavirus pandemic has brought global markets except that of China on their knees. World economy is bracing for a long spell of recession as countries lock borders and halt production to contain the rising number of coronavirus cases.

With gloomy outlook for products, companies across the world have seen a significant reduction in their values on bourses.

Key indices such as Sensex, Dow Jones, DAX and CAC have lost 26.1%, 22.7%, 27.3% and 26.7%, respectively since the first case of coronavirus was reported in China.

On the other hand, Chinese bourse Shanghai Composite has lost merely 4.1% to 2,772 on March27 compared to 2,891 on November 15 last year.

On November 17, China is said to report its first case of coronavirus in its Hubei province. According to reports, a 55-year-old could have been the first person to have contracted the viral infection and cases rapidly began piling up since then.

Currently, number of infections in Hubei and Wuhan stands at 81,470. Total 3,304 people have died in China due to coronavirus with four more succumbing to the disease in Hubei. On the contrary, its benchmark index appears to remain unscathed from the rising cases of infection.  

China's Shanghai Composite which stood at 2,891 on November 15, two days before the first case of the virus emerged in the country. On November 17, market was closed for weekend. On November 18, the index rose marginally to 2,909, a gain of 18 points.

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Since November 18, market rose continuously (except few negative closings)  to 3,115 on January 13.  

On December 31, when China reported coronavirus cases to WHO, Shanghai Composite stood at 3,050.

As Chine grappled with the rising number of cases and deaths due to the virus, the market moved in a range of 3,050 to 3,115. In fact, the index rose to a fresh high of 3,115 on January 13, 2020.

However, Shanghai Composite fell 10.26% from 3,060 on January 22 to 2,746 on February 3 this year.

Market fell after China placed Wuhan under complete lockdown on January 22 to contain the virus. The country took several others measures on a war-footing to reduce the effect of virus on its nationals.

By February 3, China reported 57 new deaths, bringing toll to at least 361 on the same day. The number of cases rose to 17,205 across the country.

In its first move to prevent the market from falling, China's central bank on February 2 said it would inject 1.2 trillion yuan ($174 billion) worth of liquidity into market through reverse repo operations.

The liquidity injection charged bulls in the Chinese market with SCE logging a 10.67% gain to 3,039 till February 21 even as death toll in China reached 2,236.

On February 22, authorities said the mainland had 397 new confirmed cases on February 21, down from 889 a day earlier.

The index rose to 3,071 by March 5. After March 5, the market witnessed a second phase of sell-off.

However, in the next seven trading sessions, SCE lost 9.50% to 2,779 as Chinese market joined global peers hit by the rising number of coronavirus cases and the subsequent economic slowdown.

Currently, the Chinese index stands at 2,747 as markets worldwide gauge the impact of rising coronavirus cases and the deaths arising from them.

Globally, there are over 7.2 lakh confirmed cases and 33,976 deaths from the coronavirus outbreak. Of these, over 1.85 lakh have recovered. In India, coronavirus cases continued to rise despite a complete lockdown to cross 1,100-mark.

As of Monday, the number of infected cases in India has increased to 1,100, with 95 recovered cases. Death toll from coronavirus in India has risen to 30.