Mumbai, March 11: Indian markets had a dramatic day today. From hitting the lower circuit to zooming over 1,700 points on Friday. The Sensex ended the day at 34,103, up 1,325 (4.04 percent). Nifty on the other hand closed at 9,955.20, up 365.05 (3.81 percent). The recovery on the Indian stock market took place on the back of a recovery in US stock futures and due to a further slide in crude oil prices.

Investors also took comfort in the fact that oil prices headed for the biggest weekly loss since 1991 and US crude headed for its worst week since 2008. Brent crude was down 47 cents, or 1.4 per cent, at $32.75 a barrel on Friday after falling more than 7 per cent on Thursday. A major crash in crude oil prices of such a magnitude is positive for India due to its heavy reliance on imported crude. Some estimates pegged $7-8 billion savings for India for every $5 a barrel fall in oil prices.

recovered after hitting the lower circuit today. The markets after remaining volatile for some time continue to trade in the green zone. The Sensex was trading at 34,557, up 1,780 (5.43 percent). Nifty, on the other hand, was at 10,086, up 496 points (5 percent) at 1:40 pm. Almost all the stocks were trading in the green, except M&M, Asian Paints and Nestle India. 

After hitting the lower circuit, trading resumed on the Indian stock markets after a 45-minute break. The pre-opening session took place from 10:05 am to 10:20 am for 20 minutes. The Normal trading started from 10:20 am today. The Sensex opened in deep red tracking weak global markets. Sensex was trading at 30,081.57, down 2,696.57 (8.23 percent). Nifty, on the other hand, was at  8,624.05, slumped 966.10 (10.07 percent ) during the opening session. However, after Nifty and Sensex, both hit the lower circuit, trading was halted for 45 minutes. According to reports, Indian markets have hit the lower circuit for the first time in 12 years, with traders calling it 'Black Friday The 13th'.

The global markets also fell tremendously on Thursday. Dow Jones saw the biggest decline since the 'Black Monday' of 1987 when the index dropped 22 percent. Dow Jones ends 10 percent lower at 2,350 points in worst session since 1987. First Coronavirus Death in India: Karnataka Health Department Confirms 76-Year-Old Kalaburagi Man Who Died Tested Positive For COVID-19.

The scare around coronavirus continues to grow not only globally, but in India as well. India reported its first death due to coronavirus on Thursday and the number of infected people has shot up to 78. There is panic all over and as a result of which, the markets are bleeding. All eyes were on how the markets perform today after a trading halt in the early hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 13, 2020 04:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).