Sensex tanks over 1,500 points as coronavirus cases increase

Domestic markets suffer huge losses in Thursday’s early trade, in tandem with their global peers, as the number of coronavirus cases is on the rise. The S&P BSE Sensex index dropped as much as 1,556.48 points to hit 27,332.69 while Nifty gave up 397 points at 8,070.95.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 5 per cent, taking its losses over a month to nearly 30 per cent. US stock futures also fell 2 per cent, signalling more trouble in the coming session.

The number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 170 on Thursday after 32 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country in the last 24 hours.

A 23-year-old woman has tested positive for COVID-19 in Chandigarh today. She has travel history to the United Kingdom.

The cases include 32 foreign nationals — 17 from Italy, 8 from Indonesia, 3 from the Philippines, two from UK, one each belonging to Canada and Singapore.

Three persons infected with the virus have died so far, the latest casualty being a 64-year-old man from Mumbai with a travel history to Dubai who succumbed on Tuesday.