New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices continued to bleed red throughout the day, following slide in global peers as fears intensified over the spread of coronavirus outbreak and oil prices plunged.

Oil fell by the most since 1991 after Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia by slashing its selling prices amid falling demand because of the virus outbreak.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 1,942 points or 5.17 per cent to 35,635 while the Nifty 50 plunged by 538 points or 4.9 per cent at 10,451.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 7.7 per cent, PSU bank by 6 per cent, IT by 5 per cent and realty by 4.2 per cent.

Among stocks, ONGC drifted lower by almost 16 per cent to Rs 74.35 per share while metal and mining major Vedanta fell by over 15 per cent to Rs 94.10.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries dipped by 13.1 per cent at Rs 1,104.50 per share. Zee Entertainment fell by 12.7 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 12.3 per cent, Tata Motors and Tata Steel by 8.1 per cent each.

State Bank of India (SBI) share price fell by 6.7 per cent after the country’s largest lender said it is going to infuse capital to rescue the private lender Yes Bank. SBI is allowed to buy up to 49 per cent stake in Yes Bank along with an initial investment of up to Rs 2,450 crore.

However, Yes Bank gained by 32.2 per cent to Rs 21.35 per share as SBI got ready to unveil a reconstruction plan for the troubled private sector lender, which has been grappling with mounting bad loans and struggling to raise fresh capital.Bharat Petroleum Corporation gained by 5.4 per cent while Bharti Infratel rose by 2.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, global share markets tumbled as oil prices plunged over 30 per cent after Saudi Arabia slashed prices and set plans for a big increase in crude production in April.

Reports said Saudi Arabia has slashed its prices the most in 20 years after the collapse of OPEC’s supply cut agreement with Russia amid gloomy global outlook.

More than 1.1 lakh people have been infected by the coronavirus across the globe and over 3,800 have died. India reported four new cases of coronavirus, taking the number of cases to 43 and China reported 22 new deaths on Monday.

Japan’s Nikkei fell by 5 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down by 4.2 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi by 4.1 per cent and Shanghai Composite by 3 per cent. (ANI)