Sensex dips by 164 points as coronavirus jitters grip D-Street

Equity benchmark indices ended in the negative territory on Friday due to profit-booking by traders amid worries over economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak.

Fitch Ratings said the ongoing contagion will dampen growth in China -- the world's second largest economy -- but the scale of impact remains uncertain, and will depend on the duration and intensity of the health crisis.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 164 points lower at 41,142 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 52 points at 12,086. Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty realty down by 1.7 per cent and pharma up by 1.3 per cent.

Among stocks, Eicher Motors dipped by 3.3 per cent at Rs 19,720 per share. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra too lost by 3.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively.

The other prominent losers were IndusInd Bank, Grasim, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel. However, among the prominent gainers were NTPC, Coal India, ONGC, UPL and Zee Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Asian share markets slipped and oil price gains stalled as the growing death toll and economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak capped the week's sharp rally.

Japan's Nikkei was down by 0.2 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 0.72 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.33 per cent but the Shanghai Composite was 0.33 per cent stronger.