Indian stock markets alongside global equities markets tumbled and prices of safe haven assets such as gold logged a record high over fears of further disruption in economic activity owing to the jump in coronavirus-related deaths, particularly outside China.
Growth worries owing to the deadly virus outbreak knocked down the global oil prices by over 3 per cent and caused a sell-off in manufacturing sector stocks.
Nifty metal index crashed 5.36 per cent as investors distanced themselves from companies such as Jindal Steel & Power Limited, JSW Steel Limited, SAIL and Tata Steel Limited.
Meanwhile, gold's record breaking run continued on Monday as investors sought more and more safe haven assets over increased uncertainty due to soaring coronavirus cases. Gold futures for April delivery topped the Rs 43,000 per 10 gm mark for the first time.
"Demand for safe-haven assets spiked as fresh coronavirus cases in South Korea and Italy indicated that business impact could be higher than thought earlier. The Trump-Modi meet is not providing clues to the market regarding trade deals, but the market is hoping for some hints in the future," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
After the volatility index or the India 'VIX' climbed over 25 per cent, the Sensex closed 806.89 points lower at 40,363.23. The broader Nifty settled at 242.25 points lower at 11,838.60. The BSE mid-cap index closed 1.60 per cent lower while the small caps index closed lower by 1.58 per cent.
Risky asset classes such as equities bore the brunt of coronavirus spread outside China. South Korea reported its seventh coronavirus death and 161 new confirmed cases on Monday, bringing the total number to 763.
Italy saw virus cases jumping exponentially from three on Friday morning to more than 150 by Sunday. Italy's spike now marks the biggest outbreak outside of Asia.
In China, the epicentre of the outbreak, coronavirus-related death jumped past 2,600. The deadly virus has infected more than 77,000 people in China and was described by Chinese President Xi Jinping as the "largest public health emergency since the founding of the country".
Asian share indexes were a sea of red. Korea's KOSPI Index slipped nearly 4 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.28 per cent. Besides, Australia's benchmark index slid 2.2 per cent while New Zealand was about 1.3 per cent lower.
"Seoul led a sharp drop across Asian and European equity markets Monday as South Korea announced a surge in COVID-19 infections, while oil plunged and safe-haven assets rallied on growing concerns about a possible pandemic," said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.
Polling begins for Tripura East LS constituency
Election officials said that around 14 lakh electorate, including 6.94 lakh female voters, are eligible to cast their votes in 1,664 polling stations in different districts of the state to decide the fate of nine candidates in the politically crucial parliamentary seat.
Festival of democracy enters second leg with 88 Lok Sabha seats across India set to vote
While 89 constituencies were slated to go to polls in the second phase, as per the initial announcement by the Election Commission, voting in Madhya Pradesh's Betul was advanced to the third phase on May 7 following the death of the BSP candidate in the fray.
Tripura BJP issues show-cause notice to party leader for slamming TMP chief Pradyot Debbarma
A day before the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP in Tripura on Thursday served a show cause-notice to one of the party’s Vice-Presidents, Patal Kanya Jamatia, who accused Tipra Motha Party (TMP) chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma of “spreading hatred” among tribals and non-tribals in the state.
PM Modi ups ante against Congress, says Rajiv Gandhi abolished inheritance law to 'save own interests'
Upping the ante against the Congress on the 'inheritance tax' issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched another scathing attack on the grand old party, saying it was former PM Rajiv Gandhi who abolished the inheritance law "to save their own interests" after the demise of his mother Indira Gandhi.
Multi-cornered contest in Tripura East LS seat going to polls on Friday
A multi-cornered contest will be witnessed in the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat, which goes to the polls in the second phase of the 7-phase parliamentary elections on Friday.
Credit card data of 17K ICICI Bank users exposed; bank blocks cards, assures compensation
After credit card data of at least 17,000 new ICICI Bank customers was exposed and reached "wrong users", the bank said on Thursday that it has blocked these cards and is issuing new ones to the customers.
TRIPURA: BSF jawan on election duty dies after rifle accidently goes off
In a tragic incident amid the preparation for the second phase of polling in Tripura, a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, who was engaged in election duty died after his rifle went off accidentally.
13.96 lakh voters to cast vote in 1664 Polling stations tomorrow
Although nine candidates are in the fray in the Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency, the main battle will be mainly between BJP candidate Kirit Singh Debbarma and CPIM candidate Rajendra Reang.