After trading in the positive zone for the major part of the day today (17th March), the indices turned red during the last hour, with selling mainly seen in financials. European markets and Dow futures added to the negativity. Covid-19 showed no signs of abatement and central banks monetary policy actions had limited impact.
Markets ended with over 2.5 percent cut. The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 811 points or 2.58 percent to end at 30,579 with ICICI Bank (down 9 percent) being the biggest loser and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) up around 3.5 percent, the biggest gainer. Among individual stocks, YES Bank continued to buck the trend and ended over 59 percent higher at Rs 59 levels.
On the NSE, the frontline index Nifty50 breached the crucial 9,000-mark to settle at 8,967 levels, down 230 points or 2.5 percent. Fear gauge India VIX jumped around 7 percent to 62.88 levels.