Indian stocks succumbed to selling pressure across the globe on Monday as investors remained cautious about the detection of a new and fast-spreading coronavirus strain in the UK. In late afternoon trade, Indian benchmark share indices slumped over 1000-points.
European shares slumped as the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus led to a more stringent lockdown in England and a travel ban from many countries, while a Brexit trade deal still hung in the balance.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency response meeting on Monday to discuss international travel and the flow of freight in and out of Britain.
Battling their surges in coronavirus cases, Asian nations including Japan and South Korea said they were closely monitoring a new supervirulent strain of the virus identified in Britain. The new strain could be up to 70 per cent more infectious.
India to temporarily suspend all flights to and from London from December 22 till December 31, said Aviation Ministry. At around 4:29 pm, The Sensex crashed 1,406.73 points, down 3 per cent. In percentage terms, it was its biggest fall in seven months. Its broader peer NSE Nifty plunged 432.15 points or 3.14 per cent to 13,328.40. Rupee posts biggest single-session fall against the dollar since November 12. The FTSE 100 fell 2.1 per cent to touch its lowest since December 2, though a near 2 per cent plunge in the pound capped losses on the exporter-heavy index.