Sensex tanks 811 points in fag-end selloff, Nifty ends below 9,000-mark; ICICI Bank, IndusInd, Bajaj Finance among top losers

Mumbai: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex plunged 811 points in fag-end selloff on Tuesday after a see-saw session as the coronavirus pandemic-led recession fears kept investors jittery. After opening on a positive note, the 30-share index gyrated 1,653 points during the day. It finally settled 810.98 points or 2.58 percent lower at 30,579.09.

#MarketAtClose | #Market sell-off continues, #Sensex & #Nifty end at 3-year closing lows, slip 10% each in the last two trading sessions pic.twitter.com/OeRyLzP3fu

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) March 17, 2020

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty slumped 230.35 points or 2.50 percent to close at 8,967.05. Top losers in the Sensex pack included ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, HDFC, Infosys and SBI. On the other hand, HUL, Hero MotoCorp, PowerGrid, Maruti and Asian Paints were among the gainers. According to traders, value-buying lifted benchmarks during the first half of the session, but the gains could not be sustained as markets succumbed to coronavirus-led fears of an impending recession. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Seoul ended in the red, while Hong Kong and Tokyo turned positive. Markets in Europe cracked up to 3 percent in early trade. Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated marginally to 74.20 per US dollar (intra-day). Brent crude oil futures fell 1.06 percent to $29.73 per barrel. The number of deaths around the world linked to the virus has topped 7,000, after Italy announced a new surge in fatalities, with over 1,75,000 infections recorded globally so far. In India, the number of infected cases stood at 126, as per the union health ministry.