Sensex bleeds by 1,448 points as rising coronavirus kills investor risk appetite

Equity benchmark indices were in free fall on Black Friday after a sustained global sell-off on coronavirus fears.

Reports said investor wealth eroded by nearly Rs 5 lakh crore amid collateral selling.

On a global scale, share prices headed for the worst week since the world financial crisis in 2008 and investors readied for the coronavirus to become a pandemic.

At the closing bell, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 1,448 points or 3.64 per cent to 38,297 while the Nifty 50 plunged by 414 points or 3.56 per cent at 11,219.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 7.34 per cent, IT by 5.27 per cent, PSU bank by 4.97 per cent and auto by 3.76 per cent.

Among stocks, Vedanta tossed down by 13.5 per cent at Rs 112.85 per share while Tata Motors skidded by 10.7 per cent at Rs 129.65. Hindalco was down by 7.9 per cent, Tata Steel by 7.7 per cent and JSW Steel by 7.3 per cent.

Tech Mahindra slipped by 7.7 per cent, HCL Technologies by 5.9 per cent and Infosys by 5.8 per cent

Meanwhile, global share markets headed for the worst week since the depths of 2008 financial crisis as investors moved away from risky assets on fears the coronavirus will become a pandemic and derail economic growth.

Asian stocks in China, Japan and South Korea posted heavy losses after an overnight plunge in Wall Street's benchmarks.

Japan's Nikkei fell by 3.67 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng by 2.42 per cent, South Korea's Kospi by 3.3 per cent and Shanghai composite by 3.71 per cent.

On Thursday, US markets see the biggest sell-off in over a decade with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by 1,191 points to close at 25,767. The S & P 500 slid by 4.4 per cent the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 4.6 per cent.

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