Sensex cracks 1,450 points; Rs 4 lakh crore gone in 60 seconds

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NEW DELHI: When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. This phrase aptly defines today’s carnage on Dalal Street.

A rout in US stocks overnight has sent shivers down investors’ spine globally.

In India, where investors were still digesting the news of a withdrawal cap at the fourth-largest lender, YES BankNSE -58.42 %, the news could not have come at a worse time.

At the opening bell, the BSE Sensex cracked 1,459.61 points, or 3.79 per cent, to 37,011. The NSE barometer plunged below the 10,900 mark at one go. Within 60 seconds into the trading, investors in India had lost Rs 4.42 lakh crore of wealth, with the market value of all BSE-listed comapnies faling to Rs 143.17 lakh crore compared with Rs 147.59 lakh crore in the previous session.The US President Donald Trump took note of a possible hit from the coronavirus outbreak on the US economy. This along with a 50-basis points rate cut by the US Fed this week — which a few analysts said was in a haste, especially ahead of the FOMC’s March 17-18 policy review — are hinting at deeper concerns brewing over the health of the world’s largest economy.