Shares hover in range

Key barometers were hovering in a narrow range with significant losses in afternoon trade. At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 619.75 points or 2.15% at 28,249.76. The Nifty 50 index was down 210.40 points or 2.48% at 8,258.40.

The broader market slumped. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.68% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.31%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 524 shares rose and 1727 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 10 stocks advanced while 40 stocks declined.

Concerns over the coronavirus epidemic overshadowed the steps taken by global central banks for reviving the economy. The US Federal Reserve, The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank have announced coordinated actions to enhance liquidity provision in financial markets to tackle disruption caused by coronavirus outbreak.

Coronavirus Crisis:

Coronavirus has infected more than 2,00,000 people and killed more than 8000 across the world. Total cases in India have risen to 169. Three persons have lost their lives in India due to the virus. As per the latest update, two women tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai metropolitan region on Thursday, taking the number of such cases in Maharashtra to 47.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on 19 March 2020 at 8 PM, during which he will talk about issues relating to COVID-19 and the efforts to combat it.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ashok Leyland tumbled 19.58% to Rs 51.75. The commercial vehicles maker said that the board of directors of the company have approved to acquire upto 19% additional equity shares in Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLFL), from the existing shareholders for a consideration not exceeding Rs 1200 crore.

Wipro fell 2.09% to Rs 166.25. The company announced the launch of its Microsoft Business Unit. The unit will focus on the development and evangelization of solutions leveraging Microsoft's enterprise cloud services.

Yes Bank fell 10.28% to Rs 54.55. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday withdrew its moratorium imposed on the private lender, allowing restoration of all banking operations. This came after a consortium of eight public and private banks, led by State Bank of India, agreed to infuse capital into Yes Bank to rescue it under the restructuring plan proposed by the government and RBI.

Meanwhile, Madhu Kapur sold 2.48 crore shares of Yes Bank in a block deal on NSE at Rs 65.07 each on Wednesday (18 March 2020).

As on 17 March 2020, Madhu Kapur held 17.27 crore shares, or 1.377% in Yes Bank. Madhu Kapur is wife of the late Ashok Kapur, who founded the private lender along with Rana Kapoor in 2004.

As per Yes Bank's restructuring scheme, investors owning more than 100 shares are being subject to a three-year lock-in for 75% of their total investment.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia fell across the board on Thursday amid concerns various policy moves by governments and central banks will not be enough to stop the coronavirus pandemic causing a severe recession.

The European Central Bank (ECB) said it is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy. The ECB will buy 750 billion euro ($820 billion) in bonds through 2020, with Greek debt and non-financial commercial paper eligible under the programme for the first time.

In US, stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday, but off session lows after Congress passed the first of two planned bills providing some relief from the economic damage the coronavirus pandemic is inflicting on businesses and consumers.

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