Coronavirus pandemic pulls down equity indices by 7 pc as US puts travel ban from Europe

Equities were on a freefall around midday on Thursday after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic and the United States suspended travel from Europe.

Oil also slipped further as Russia and Saudi Arabia increase output and saw prices fall.

At 12 noon, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 2,509 points or 7.03 per cent to 33,188 while the Nifty 50 slumped by 736 points at 9,723.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were deep in red with Nifty PSU bank down by 10.51 per cent, metal by 9.26 per cent, realty by 9 per cent and auto by 8.32 per cent.

Among stocks, Yes Bank was the top loser after dropping by 14.7 per cent at Rs 24.55 per share. Axis Bank slipped by over 11 per cent while State Bank of India fell by 9.8 per cent.

The other prominent losers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finserv, Adani Ports and Coal India.

Meanwhile, global shares crumbled after US President Donald Trump put a 30-day ban on travel to the United States from Europe in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Investors were worried over more disruptions to businesses and the world economy even though Trump said trade will not be affected by the restrictions.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan lost by 3.2 per cent to its lowest level since early 2019 while Japan's Nikkei dropped by 4.92 per cent.

South Korea's Kospi also plummeted by 3.84 per cent, Shanghai Composite declined 1.34 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 3.81 per cent.

In commodities, oil prices were hit by intensifying price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia on top of fears of a sharp slowdown in the global economy.