Indian bourses continued to nose-dive as trading resumed after a 45-minute halt.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index Sensex crashed 3,300 points after trading resumed on Monday, trading at 26,632. A lower circuit was imposed when Sensex crashed by 2,995 points in early trade.
The broader index, the 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), also continued to fall after resuming trading. The NSE, after opening trading at 7813 points, was down by 930 points after reopening. Nifty was down 912 points in the opening trade, at a level of 7,832.
The Indian currency also took a severe beating on Monday, breaching 76 to a US Dollar as foreign institutional investors dumped their investments in Indian equity. After opening at 75.69 to a US Dollar, it fell to 76.15.
Experts like Anindya Banerjee, who tracks the forex market at Kotak Securities, said, “Pandemic is causing widespread lockdowns, causing the economy to grind to halt. In such a situation, emerging market currencies are vulnerable due to their dependence on dollar debt. A scramble for dollars would continue as long as the panic lasts. RBI would continue to sell dollars aggressively but that may not stop the bleed in Rupee”.
