Investors lose Rs 51 lakh crore from all-time high as coronavirus stings global markets

Sensex and Nifty which were enjoying a dream run in mid-January this year find themselves stuck in a tight grip of bears now.

On January 20, Sensex hit its all-time high of 42,273 and Nifty touched a record peak of 12,430.

However, the index which was seen hitting 45,000 by second half of this year has fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic.

It has lost 13,985 points since then. Nifty too has declined 4,167 points to 8,263 in a short duration of two months.

Investors have lost over Rs 51 lakh crore in market wealth since Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time highs.

Bears have been dominating Indian indices ever since global markets started taking into account the effect of coronavirus which originated in China. Besides, the infectious  disease, Union Budget announced on February 1 also played a dampener for market sentiment.

The government did not withdraw or increased the stock holding period for long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax which was a long-pending demand of investors.

After FM Nirmala Sitharaman read her speech, Sensex nosedived nearly 1,275 points from the day's high as market participants felt that the government did not take concrete steps to revive the slowing economy.

On February 1, Sensex ended 987.96 points or 2.43 per cent lower at 39,735. Similarly, Nifty plunged 300.25 points or 2.51 per cent to close at 11,661

After falling on Budget day, Sensex managed some recovery till February 12 when it hit 41,566. However, all gains in the index were washed in the upcoming sessions since US and other global markets apart from China had started feeling the heat of coronavirus pandemic. Since February 12, Sensex has lost 13,278 points.

Dow Jones, the US stock market index had hit closing record high of 29,551 on February 12 this year on hopes trade war between US and China  were coming to an end.

But celebrations for US markets could not last longer as arrival of coronavirus on the global stage led to departure of bulls from stock indices worldwide.

As global markets started taking into account the effect of coronavirus pandemic on their respective economies, investors saw erosion of wealth across their portfolios.

Dow Jones fell from its record closing high of 29,551 on February 12 to 19,898 today, clocking 32.66% loss during the period.

With countries, especially the US, closing borders to prevent rise of coronavirus cases, the global economy is staring at a recession.

With airline, banking, manufacturing sectors across the world in shambles, GDP growth in 2020  will take a major hit, global agencies have predicted.

Number of coronavirus cases have risen drastically since February. Number of positive cases of coronavirus have climbed to 2,19,032 with 8,953 people losing their lives. China, Italy, Iran are leading the chart with over 7,300 deaths collectively.  Italy alone reported 475 deaths on Wednesday.

In India, 167 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed , according to the government. The infection has claimed lives of four citizens.

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