Sensex crashes by 800 points amid coronavirus fears, metal stocks plunge

Equity benchmark indices closed nearly 2 per cent lower on Monday as the spread of coronavirus outside China spooked global markets.

The virus claiming 2,442 lives in China has spread to 28 other countries with investors grappling to assess its impact on economic growth.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 807 points or 1.96 per cent lower at 40,363 while the Nifty 50 cracked by 242 points or 2.01 per cent to 11,839.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 5.36 per cent, auto by 3.51 per cent, pharma by 3.09 per cent and realty by 2.16 per cent.

Among stocks, JSW Steel suffered the most with a fall of 7.35 per cent at Rs 261.10 per share. Vedanta dropped by 6.4 per cent, Tata Steel by 6.2 per cent and Hindalco by 5.5 per cent.

Auto stocks too took a dip with Tata Motors slipping by 4.9 per cent, Eicher Motors by 4.5 per cent and Maruti by 4.1 per cent. ONGC fell by 4.8 per cent at Rs 97.85 per share.

Bharti Infratel plunged by 4.3 per cent after the company extended the deadline for its merger with Indus Towers by two more months to April 24. It cautioned that the final call on scheme implementation will be taken by the board based on the assessment of the telecom crisis and its impact.

Meanwhile, Asian shares and oil prices slid as the spread of the coronavirus outside China darkened outlook for world growth.

South Korea's Kospi index fell by 3.87 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index eased by 1.79 per cent.

South Korea put the country on high alert while the number of infections jumped to over 700 and deaths rose to seven. In Italy, three deaths were reported while the number of cases jumped to above 150.

Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan imposed travel and immigration restrictions as fears mounted that the coronavirus outbreak in China will grow into a pandemic with deadly consequences for countries around the world.

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