Corona carnage: Sensex ends below 29K, Nifty settles at 8,469; banking stocks lead losses

Sensex and Nifty closed over three year lows on Wednesday, as investors turned cautious over concerns of economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic. Extending losses for the third straight session, Sensex closed 1,709 points lower to 28,896 and Nifty50 ended at 8,468 mark, down 498 points to its previous close.

Domestic market tracked negative cues from abroad as European indices and US futures slipped nearly 4%.

Earlier, Sensex and Nifty rebounded from sharp losses recorded in the previous session and started the day on a bullish note.  Sensex opened points 422 higher at 31,000 as compared to its last close of 30,597. Similarly, Nifty 50 started the day at 9,285 level, rising 88 points against its previous close of 8,967.

Later, stocks gave up gains with the rising number of coronavirus cases in India and turned volatile. Indices slipped deep into red, tracking the fall in overseas equities.

European indices like the UK, Germany and France Index declined nearly 4% each. US Dow Futures slipped 4% and Nasdaq Futures declined 4.5%.

SGX Nifty and Kospi were down over 4%, followed by a 2% drop in Taiwan and Hang Seng indices. Nikkei and Jakarta Composite dropped 1.5% each.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"Indian markets ended at 3-year lows, with Nifty below the 8,500 mark, in tandem with Asian and European markets after global agencies warned of a recession following the impact of Covid-19. At the same time, rising infections in India and associated disruption in businesses led to India's GDP growth forecasts also being downgraded. "

All the sector-based indices ended in red, with over 4% fall in banking and financials.

Banking and financial stocks fell the most today after Reuters reported that banks were planning to appeal for NPA relative measures to the government amid the coronavirus outbreak which has led to a fresh surge in bad loans.

Unabated FII outflows also kept investors on the edge. Additionally, the downgrade of India's GDP estimate by Morgan Stanley and S&P Ratings worsened market sentiments.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said," The Dalal street pounded amid panic selling as the pandemic manifested itself in the minds of investors. What we witnessed today in our markets was truly unnerving to every investor as our MCAP to GDP virtually touched GFC lows. The only saving grace today was a big value buying seen in PSU stocks in late afternoon trade".

Later, in a similar trend reverse as seen in the equity markets, commodity markets also turned volatile, as virus outbreak panic has caused rising concerns to investors over its impact on the global economy.

While Brent Crude slipped 1% at $28.5 per barrel, gold futures on MCX touched the day's low by falling 926 points or 1.51% to Rs 39,318 per 10 gm.

In the meanwhile, the global death toll due to the coronavirus outbreak has touched 7,940, with China and Italy contributing most to the number of deaths.

Of 197,496 confirmed cases globally, 81,911 have recovered. The total number of cases in India have increased to 152 including 25 foreign nationals by Wednesday. The death toll from coronavirus in India has risen to 4.

Commenting on market trend in the near term, Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said,"Markets are not showing any sign of slowdown despite the sharp correction in the benchmarks and stocks across the board. And, the pressure in the banking space has raised fresh concerns, which might cascade in the following sessions too. We reiterate our advice accumulating fundamentally sound counters in a staggered manner rather trying to find the market bottom. Traders, on the other hand, should prefer options strategies instead of naked trades until the market stabilises."

Suggesting the near term outlook for Nifty50, Manav Chopra, CMT, Head Research - Equity, Indiabulls Securities Ltd. said," Nifty breached the important lows of 8,550. The next support zone on the downside would be 8,000 on the downside. Till the markets do not show signs of selling exhaustion any kind of long bias should be avoided. Immediate resistance for the Nifty is placed at 8,850. He suggested support levels around 8,200-8,000 and resistance of 8,750-9,000 levels.

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