Accordingly, the new cases count has crossed 1.5 lakhs for the first time on April 11.

 

This spooked investors and led the S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 to crash by over 3.5 per cent each.

 

Around 1.55 p.m., Sensex traded at 47,842.31, lower by 1,749.01 points or 3.54 per cent from its previous close of 49,591.32.

 

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 14,313.90, lower by 520.95 points or 3.51 per cent from its previous close.

 

"Taking cues from SGX Nifty, our market started the week on a negative note. Nifty opened gap down and continued its downward momentum," said Jay Purohit, Technical & Derivatives Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

 

"Selling pressure is quite severe as Nifty fell by more than 500 points and touched 14,283 levels."

 

According to Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research: "The response from various state governments have been to impose lockdowns which has created a panic in the market and we are seeing sell off across the sectors."

 

"All the support levels have been breached and the mood of the markets seems very bearish. Investors are advised to exercise caution while creating any fresh positions. The volatility is expected to remain in the market because of the underlying uncertainty."