Sensex rebounds 1,325 points to end at 34,103.48; Nifty rallies 365.05 points to reclaim 9,000-level

Mumbai: Markets took investors on a gut-churning ride on Friday, with trading being halted for the first time in 12 years as benchmarks plunged over 10 percent in opening trade, before staging an emphatic comeback powered by banking, finance and energy stocks. The BSE and NSE suspended trading for 45 minutes a little past 9.20 am after the Sensex and Nifty plunged in tandem with global markets as the coronavirus pandemic triggered recession fears. However, domestic indices surged after trading resumed as investors snapped up recently-battered stocks available at attractive valuations. Expectations of stimulus measures by the US and other countries also buoyed sentiment, analysts said. Recovering over 5,380 points from its intra-day low of 29,388.97, the BSE Sensex ended 1,325.34 points or 4.04 percent higher at 34,103.48.

#MarketAtClose | Nifty Bank gains 1,195 pts to 25,166 after intra-day move of 4,300 points. Midcap index ends 365 pts higher at 14,608 after intra-day move of 2,000 points pic.twitter.com/N9n5PJg7RW

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Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 365.05 points, or 3.81 percent, up at 9,955.20. It hit an intra-day low of 8,555.15. Most Sensex components ended with gains. SBI was the top gainer, rallying 13.87 percent, followed by Tata Steel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, Nestle India, Asian Paints, HUL, Hero MotoCorp and HCL Tech shed up to 4.12 percent. During the holiday-shortened week, the Sensex plummeted 3,473.14 points or 9.24 percent, while the Nifty lost 1,034.25 points or 9.41 percent. The benchmarks posted their biggest ever one-day falls in two sessions this week (9 and 12 March). Investor wealth worth around Rs 15 lakh crore has been wiped off in the past four sessions. “This week will go down in history as one of the worst weeks for global markets. Consider this, the US market had declined 18 percent in just the first four days of trading. [caption id=“attachment_4411019” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] “Markets have been battered by the potential economic impact on account of various preventive travel measures by major countries. FPIs sold equities worth $2.3 billion over the past five trading sessions while DIIs bought $1.8 billion worth of equities in the same period,” said Sanjeev Zarbade, VP PCG Research, Kotak Securities. All sectoral indices ended with gains, with BSE telecom, metal, oil and gas, finance, banking and energy indices rallying up to 6.39 percent. Broader midcap and smallcap indices too settled on a positive note. As per norms, trading is halted for 1.45 hours if there is 15 percent movement before 1 pm and 45 minutes for such movement between 1 pm and 2 pm. Geojit Financial Services Chief Investment Strategist V K Vijaykumar said the last time there was a circuit freeze and trading halt was on 22 January, 2008. There was also a brief trading halt on the National Stock Exchange on 5 October, 2012 due to a freak trade. Sebi on Friday said the regulator and stock exchanges are prepared to “take any action” as required to deal with market volatility. Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian also said the government and the RBI will take all necessary steps to quell the “fear sentiment” created due to the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, official data released after market hours on Thursday showed that India’s factory output rose marginally in January, while retail inflation eased to a two-month low in February, paving the way for RBI to cut interest rate to boost growth. In rest of Asia, Shanghai slipped 1.23 percent, Hong Kong 1.14 percent, Seoul 3.43 percent and Tokyo 6.08 percent. Bourses in Europe opened up to 4 percent higher. The rupee too witnessed a sharp recovery, appreciating 47 paise to 73.81 per US dollar (intra-day). Brent crude oil futures surged 5.51 percent to $35.05 per barrel. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India stood at 75, including 17 foreigners, as per health ministry data. Around 1,30,000 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.