Sensex closed 1,708 points lower on Monday as a record surge in COVID-19 cases in the country spooked investors. Sensex crashed 1,707 points or 3.44 per cent to end at 47,883 and Nifty plunged 524.05 points or 3.53 per cent to finish at 14,310. This is the second-biggest single day fall for Sensex in 2021 . On February 26 this year, Sensex ended 1,939 points at 49,099 , posting its biggest single day fall this year. Nifty too closed 586 points lower at 14,529 after a rise in bond yields in the US roiled global markets.
A record surge in Covid-19 cases across the country has threatened recovery in Asia's third largest economy.
India reported 1,69,899 cases of COVID-19 as of 11.30 p.m on April 11, the highest single-day rise in cases since pandemic hit India last year.
As many as 904 deaths were also recorded on the day. This is the second straight day the country reported more than 1.5 lakh new cases.
Covid returns: Will stock market crash again in 2021?
The prospects of a second full-fledged lockdown in Maharashtra wrecked investor sentiment.
Maharashtra reported its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases with 63,294 fresh cases in 24 hours on Sunday. Almost 10,000 of these were from the state capital Mumbai. There are now 5,65,500 active cases in Maharashtra. Amid the Covid surge, the Maharashtra government is yet to take a final decision on whether the state will go into a complete lockdown to control the spread of the virus.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa has also warned a lockdown could be imposed in the state if cases continue to rise unabated.
Rs 8 lakh crore investor wealth wiped out as rising Covid cases spook Sensex, Nifty
Here are ten things to know about the market crash today.
1. Top Sensex losers were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI, ONGC, Titan, M&M, Bajaj Finserv, falling up to 8.60%. Dr Reddy's was the only gainer, climbing over 4 per cent.
2. Rupee fell for the sixth straight session and closed 32 paise lower at 75.05 against the US dollar. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.97 against the greenback and traded in the range of 74.78 to 75.14 during the day. In the last six sessions, the rupee has depreciated by 193 paise.
3. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell by Rs 8.78 lakh crore after investor wealth declined to Rs 200.50 lakh crore at the end of today's session. On April 9, market wealth of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 209.63 lakh crore.
4. India VIX , the market's volatility gauge, surged 16.17% to 22.99 on Monday, signalling heightened negative sentiment on Sensex and Nifty.
5. Banking stocks led the losses with BSE bankex slipping 1802 points to 34,967. Bank Nifty too crashed 1656 poinst lower at 30,792. Other major sectoral losers were consumer durables and auto stocks with their BSE indices slipping 1,490 and 1,152 points respectively. All 19 BSE sectoral indices closed in the red.
6. Market breadth was negative with 2,477 stocks ending lower against 510 rising on BSE. 174 stocks were unchanged in trade today.
7. BSE mid cap and small cap indices crashed 1,105 points and 1,039 points, respectively signaling across the board selling in the equity market today.
8. After the equity market crash today, Sensex is now up merely 0.28% since the beginning of 2.3% of this year. However, Nifty has clocked a rally 2.35% during the same period.
9. Market sentiment worsened after global brokerage company Nomura cut India's GDP forecast to 12.6 per cent from 13.5 per cent forecast earlier as the country faces a consistent rise in coronavirus cases and higher inflation. Nomura has pegged the calendar year GDP growth at 11.5 per cent, a decline from 12.4 per cent estimated earlier.
10. Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President (Equity Technical Research) at Kotak Securities said, "The market has broken all-important crucial supports without any major efforts and closed at the lowest point of the day. Based on the Nifty/Sensex's daily formation, we could see the market falling to 14000/13900 (46700/46600) levels. Bargain hunting is advisable between 14000/13800 (46700/46000) levels. On the higher side, 14400/14450 would act as a major hurdle and traders should search for selling opportunity around the same. Keep a final stop loss at 14550 for the same."