Market mayhem continues, Sensex falls below 40K-mark

Mumbai, February 26

Indian equities remained in free fall for a fourth session in a row today following a sustained global sell-off as the number of new coronavirus cases surged in new regions, putting the world economy at a bigger risk.

The BSE gauge Sensex settled the day with a loss of 392.24 points at 39,888.96 — the lowest closing in over three weeks.

Starting off on a weaker note, the index plunged over 521 points during the day. Over the past four sessions, the Sensex has lost 1,281.16 points.

The broader NSE Nifty plummeted 119.40 points to end at 11,678.50 — its worst level since February 3.

The NSE index has shed 402.35 points or 3.33% in the past four days.

On the Sensex chart, Sun Pharma was the top loser, followed by Maruti, L&T, Hero Motocorp, Infosys, ONGC and RIL.

On the other hand, SBI, HUL, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, and Ultratech Cement ended with gains.

Sectorally, BSE realty, auto and capital goods were among the top losers, dropping as much as 2.16%.

Barring telecom, all sectoral indices closed in the red. In the broader market, BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 1.34%.

“Increasing concern regarding coronavirus in the world over is impacting global market. The economic impact is expected to be worse than thought earlier forcing investors to stay away from risky assets,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said. — PTI

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