The equity indices on Wednesday erased early gains extending the sell-off as global markets failed to hold on to gains and resumed their downward spiral amid coronavirus fears. The BSE Sensex plunged over 1000 points and the broader NSE Nifty 50 was down over 200 points.
At 12:40 pm, Sensex slipped 1,170.32 points or 3.74% to trade at 29,429.50, while Nifty was down 238 points or 2.7% at 8,728.
The drop comes in the backdrop of number of coronavirus cases in India rising to 147 and the Supreme Court lashing out at the Department of Telecom (DoT) for its plea seeking approval for staggered payment of adjusted gross revenues (AGR) dues by telecom companies.
Nifty Bank fell 4.5%. Vodafone Idea dropped 37% and Bharti Infratel slipped 13% post the Supreme Court order. The apex court made it clear that there could not be another attempt at calculating the AGR dues of telecom companies.
Shares of Yes Bank traded 6% higher at Rs 62.15 apiece after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 87.85 on the BSE.
Of 30 Sensex shares, 26 were in the red.
Hours before markets begin operations, rating agency S&P Global Ratings lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 5.2% for 2020, saying the global economy is entering a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency had earlier projected a growth rate of 5.7 per cent during the 2020 calendar.
