MUMBAI: Indian equity market suffered its worst ever monthly sell-off in March since the global financial crisis of 2008 as fears of massive damage to the economy likely to be caused by the coronavirus outbreak crippled investors.
The NSE100 index fell 22.84% in March, as against the 26.7% fall seen in October 2008. The rout eroded ₹3.3 trillion of shareholder wealth in a month, with foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulling out ₹58,632 crore, also the highest monthly drawdown ever.
The heavy selling took a toll on equity performance, with just six stocks on the NSE100 managing to eek out minor gains of up to 6.62%.