Global markets witness melt down, as coronavirus fear drives massive sell-off

Global markets on Friday (March 13) witnessed a crash of epic magnitude due to panic selling of almost every asset class after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Gold and oil fell, sovereign bonds slumped as investors liquidated everything they could to cover losses.

The Indian equity indices opened in the red and at 10 am, was down by 3,091 points or 9.43 per cent to 29,688 while the Nifty 50 cracked by 966 points or 10.07 per cent to 8,624. As Nifty hit 10 per cent lower circuit trading was halted for the 45 minutes. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 21,201 points 2,353 lower, the S&P 500 tanked by almost 9.5 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite ended 9.4 per cent lower at 7,202. 

Japan`s Nikkei dropped by almost 10 per cent and looked to be headed for its worst week since the financial crisis of 2008. While Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index was down by 5 per cent and China`s Shanghai Composite slumped by 3 per cent. 

On Wednesday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared coronavirus a global pandemic and US President Donald Trump announced a 30-day ban on travel from Europe to the United States over COVID-19.

On Thursday, the BSE and Nifty had witnessed the biggest single-day fall since 2008, BSE closed at a two-year low while the Nifty ended at a near 3-year low. The Sensex closed down 2,919.26 points at 32,778.14, while the broader Nifty also ended down 825.30 points at 9,633.10. Investors also lost Rs 10 lakh crore due to the fall of Sensex in a single-day, while investors at the broader Nifty lost about Rs 3 lakh crore.

Experts suggest that the Indian economy is also expected to decline by 0.5%.

(With inputs from agencies)