Sensex Climbs Over 2,000 Points, Nifty Above 8,350 Amid Lockdown Due To Coronavirus

Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 2,000 points to touch 28,790.19 in afternoon deals. Similarly, the NSE Nifty jumped over 575 points to reach a high of 8,376.75. The upward trend continued in the market after the equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 600 points in the opening session today. A day after the government took drastic measures to combat coronavirus outbreak with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing a complete lockdown across the country for 21 days.

Asian peers were also trading higher as authorities world over stepped up efforts to fight the pandemic. However, concerns over the impact of worldwide lockdowns kept investors on edge, traders said.

In the previous session, the BSE benchmark closed 692.79 points or 2.67 per cent higher at 26,674.03, after a highly volatile trading session. Likewise, the NSE barometer settled 190.80 points, or 2.51 per cent, up at 7,801.05.

According to traders, investors are weighing the economic impact of the 21-day lockdown announced last night. In an unprecedented drastic measure to curb the spread of coronavirus, Modi said the lockdown will be in force from Tuesday midnight, as he announced a central allocation of Rs 15,000 crore to strengthen the health infrastructure to tackle the disease.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, enforcement of the 21-day lockdown of the nation will be a major challenge. Ensuring supplies to all households is not going to be easy, but has to be done. The temporary shock to the economy will be huge.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul rallied up to 5 per cent. Stocks on Wall Street rallied up to 11 per cent in overnight trade.

Incessant foreign fund outflow also kept domestic market participants risk-averse, traders said.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,153.35 crore on Tuesday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

The number of global Covid-19 infections has shot past 4,20,000. Worldwide fatalities have topped 18,000.

With Agency Inputs