Indian equities traded extremely weak on Tuesday as global markets went into a tailspin after U.S. crude contracts slid below zero for the first time ever on Monday and U.S. President Donald Trump said that he will suspend immigration to combat COVID-19 pandemic.
The 30-share Sensex lost 1,011.29 points, or 3.2%, to close at 30,636.71. Earlier in the day, it dropped 1,270 points to touch an intraday low of 30,378.26.
Sensex constituents such as ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, TCS, Infosys and Kotak Mahindra Bank contributed the maximum to the day’s losses. IndusInd Bank was the worst performer in the Sensex pack, shedding over 12% followed by Bajaj Finance that lost a little over 9%.
Meanwhile, the broader Nifty fell below the psychological 9,000-mark to close at 8,981.45, down 280.40 points or 3.03%. Further, the India VIX index moved up over 4% on Tuesday.
“We had a muted session on Monday but overnight, there was an unprecedented fall seen in crude oil prices which spooked the traders’ fraternity across the globe,” said Sameet Chavan, chief analyst, technical and derivatives, Angel Broking.
On Monday, crude Nymex WTI crude contracts dropped below zero for the first time ever over concerns of lack of storage facilities at a time when demand outlook was quite bearish.
Investor sentiment was further dampened after Mr. Trump said that he would suspend immigration through an executive order to address the growing concerns related to the pandemic. Incidentally, Singapore had extended its lockdown until June 1.
Almost all Asian markets lost ground on Tuesday, with the Nikkei shedding almost 2% while Hang Seng was down 2.2%. The overnight Dow Jones was down 2.44%. In India, the overall market breadth was also weak with almost 1,700 stocks in the red against only 716 gainers. Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers on Tuesday at almost ₹2,100 crore.