Stocks roiled on coronavirus fears, Sensex plunges 807 pts

Monday,   24-Feb-2020   04:02 PM (IST)

Fears that the coronavirus outbreak in China will grow into a pandemic with disruptive and deadly consequences for countries across the globe spooked equity market on Monday. The virus, that has killed 2,442 people in China, has spread to 28 other countries and territories, with a death toll of around two dozen. As a result, the S&P BSE Sensex plunged 807 points or nearly 2 per cent to settle at 40,363 with alll the 30 components of the index ending in the red. Tata Steel (down over 6 per cent) bled the most, followed by ONGC (down nearly 5 per cent) and Maruti (down over 4 per cent). On the NSE, the benchmark Nifty lost 251 points or over 2 per cent to end the session at 11,829 levels. Volatility index India VIX jumped 26 per cent to 17.21 levels. Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal cracked the most - over 5 per cent to 2,472. Pharma and PSU banks were next on the list. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap 100 ended at 17,764, down 346 points or around 2 per cent and the Nifty SmallCap 100 index skid around 2 per cent to 6,044.