Viral fear, growth blues stalk Street

Stocks fall 1.6%, fear index up 16%; key indicator signals weakness

- Ram Sahgal

Memories from a viral outbreak five years ago returned on Monday to combine with worries of weak earnings, falling currency and slowing economic growth, whipping stocks and erasing ₹11 trillion of investor wealth.

The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty crashed more than 1.5% each and the fear gauge Vix rose the most in four months, on a day India detected multiple cases of the Chinese-origin human metapneumovirus (HMPV).

Lackluster quarterly updates by banks over the weekend signaling slower credit growth worsened sentiment. Banking behemoth HDFC Bank reported credit growth of 3% on-year in its quarterly update for the third quarter of FY25, which disappointed markets. The bank's shares closed 2.23% on the BSE.

Consequently, selling by foreign investors and fresh shorting of derivatives dragged the Nifty and Sensex down. The Nifty slid below the psychological 24,000 mark, tanking 1.62% to 23,616.05, and the Sensex fell 1.59% to close at 77,964.99.

Monday's fall dragged the two benchmarks below their 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs) of 23,700 and 78,056. A fall below EMA is an indicator of weakness in the market.