The benchmark indices ended over 3 per cent lower on Tuesday amid collapse in crude oil prices and weak global markets. The session witnessed heavy selling in financial, metal, energy, and auto stocks.
The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 1,011 points or 3.2 per cent to settle at 30,637 while NSE's Nifty slipped 280 points or 3 per cent to 8,981 levels. Volatility index, India VIX, jumped over 4 per cent to 45.34 levels.
In the Sensex pack, 27 out of 30 stocks ended in the red. IndusInd Bank (down 12 per cent) emerged as the biggest loser on the index, followed by Bajaj Finance (down 9 per cent), ICICI Bank (down over 8 per cent), and Axis Bank (down 7.6 per cent).
Buzzing stocks
Financial stocks plunged during the session. The Nifty Bank ended nearly 5.5 per cent lower at 19,409 levels. Among individual names, ICICI Bank slipped nearly 9 per cent to Rs 329.80 apiece on the NSE after the bank clarified it has exposure to Ocean Tankers, a unit of Singapore oil-trading firm Hin Leong Trading (HLT), that has filed for bankruptcy in Singapore. The firm owes nearly $100 million -- or nearly Rs 760 crore -- to the lender.
That apart, Bajaj Finance declined over 9 per cent to Rs 2,099 after foreign brokerage firm UBS downgraded the stock to "sell".
Oil & gas stocks slid during the day after the US crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on Monday for the first time in history, amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut, ending the day at a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel as desperate traders paid to get rid of oil.
Meanwhile, IT stocks took a beating after US President Donald Trump announced a temporary suspension of immigration into the country. The Nifty IT index slipped nearly 3.5 per cent to 12,409 levels, with all the 10 constituents ending in the red.
Metal stocks, too, tumbled on concerns of weak demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The NIfty Metal Index declined over 5 per cent to 1,667 levels.
On the upside, Aurobindo Pharma rallied 20 per cent to Rs 649 after US drug regulator USFDA classified the company's Unit IV of Hyderabad plant as VAI (voluntary action indicated).
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index fell nearly 3 per cent to 11,477 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap ended at 10,565, down 3 per cent.
Global markets
Global stocks fell on Tuesday, a day after US crude oil prices turned negative for the first time, as dismal company earnings reports underlined worries about economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic.
MSCI’s All Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, was down 0.8 per cent. European stock markets followed their Asian counterparts lower, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index down nearly 2 per cent in early deals.
In commodity market, Brent Crude futures slipped below $20 a barrel, a day after WTI Crude futures slipped into the negative zone amid fears that the sector will run out of storage for a glut caused by the coronavirus lockdown. At the time of writing of this report, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May delivery traded at minus $2.58 a barrel, up $35.05 from Monday’s close when the contract settled at a discount of $37.63 a barrel.
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