Nifty below 12,000, Sensex drops 330 points amid coronavirus concerns

Bears continued to run the show on Dalal Street as domestic equity indices traded in the red in opening trade on Tuesday as companies warned of the impact of coronavirus on their businesses.

Apple told investors its manufacturing facilities in China have begun to re-open but are ramping up slower than expected, reinforcing signs of a broader hit to businesses from the epidemic. Many Indian firms, especially automakers, have warned of disruptions.

BSE flagship Sensex was down 256 points to 40,799, while NSE benchmark Nifty dipped 75 points to 11,970. Broader market indices were faring worse than their headline peers as Nifty Smallcap fell 1.03 per cent to 6,018, while Nifty Midcap slipped 0.54 per cent to 17,728. Nifty 500 was down 0.68 per cent to 9,824.

India VIX, the measure of volatility in the market, gained 2.51 per cent to 14.77.

Barring Nifty Media, all sectoral indices on NSE were in the red. Nifty metal was the biggest loser, down 1.64 per cent, followed by Nifty PSU Bank which was down 1.07 per cent to 2,122. Nifty Media was up 1.11 per cent due to a 14 per cent jump in TV18 Broadcast which gained on the news of merger.

In the 30-share pack Sensex, Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer, up 0.28 per cent to Rs 566.60. Tech Mahindra and Ultratech Cement were two other scrips that were in the green

IndusInd Bank was the biggest loser, down 3.44 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, Hero Moto and Maruti.

Globally, Asian shares fell and Wall Street retreated from record highs on Tuesday after Apple Inc said it will not meet its revenue guidance for the March quarter as the coronavirus outbreak slowed production and weakened demand in China.

The warning from the most valuable company in the United States sobered investor optimism that economic stimulus by Beijing and other countries would protect the global economy from the effects of the epidemic.

S&P500 e-mini futures dipped as much as 0.3 per cent in Asian trade.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.65 per cent, while Tokyo's Nikkei slid 1.0 per cent. Shanghai shares dipped 0.2 per cent, having gained in nine of the past 10 sessions largely on hopes for policy support by Beijing.