Sensex tanks...
Friday’s carnage in Indian markets wiped out investor wealth worth ₹5,46,287.76 crore. In terms of a single-day drop, this was the worst since August 24, 2015. The ‘Fear Index’ or India ‘VIX’ logged one of the steepest single day jump in recent past closing at a record of 22.87.
“There are concerns that the outbreak will adversely impact... global supply chains big time, thereby affecting economic growth of most nations,” Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking, said in a note, news agency Reuters reported.
Even sectors like information technology tumbled despite a weaker rupee, indicating increasing anxiety among investors, the agency quoted Mishra as saying.
Brent crude oil futures dropped 3.38% to $49.98 per barrel. On the currency front, the Indian rupee tumbled 55 paise to 72.16 per US dollar (intra-day).
Till Thursday, the number of people who were infected by the pathogen, technically called the SARS-COV2, and had developed the pneumonia-like disease called Covid-19, closed in to the 84,000 mark while deaths neared 2,900. While a large chunk of these numbers were reported from China, the outbreak is now surging elsewhere.
Four more countries reported their first cases on Thursday, taking the number of countries and territories outside China with infections to 55, with more than 4,200 cases killing about 70 people.
The first detailed joint assessment by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese authorities warned that the rest of the world may not be able to stem the spread of the virus in a way China had. “Much of the global community is not yet ready, in mindset and materially, to implement the measures that have been employed to contain Covid-19 in China,” said the report.
“Fundamental to these measures is extremely proactive surveillance to immediately detect cases, very rapid diagnosis and immediate case isolation, rigorous tracking and quarantine of close contacts, and an exceptionally high degree of population understanding and acceptance of these measures,” it added. Late on Thursday, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said nations should prepare. “This virus has pandemic potential,” he said, adding: “This is not a time for fear. This is a time for taking action to prevent infection and save lives now.”
As hopes that the outbreak would be contained to China vanished, countries started stockpiling medical equipment.
On Thursday, Germany quarantined about 1,000 people and Switzerland banned big events, leading to the Geneva car show being cancelled. Iran reported 143 more coronavirus infections, while South Korea revealed 571 new cases. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, confirmed the first infection south of the Sahara desert.