Mumbai, March 17: The Sensex closed in the red after a choppy session today. The BSE Sensex ended 810 points down at 30,579. Nifty on the other hand closed at 8,968, down 229 points on Tuesday.  Indian markets after opening in the green fell in the red zone within the first few seconds of trading. For the most part of the day, the markets remained extremely volatile. However, in the last hour of the trading session, the markets gave up their gains and tanked more than 800 points.

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that the US economy could be heading to a recession, as the virus may not be curtailed until at least August. According to a Reuters report, the S&P 500 tanked 12 per cent, closing at its lowest level since December 2018, the Dow Jones slipped 12.93 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.32 per cent. Coronavirus Outbreak: US Economy 'May be' Headed Towards Recession, Says Donald Trump Amid COVID-19 Crisis.

The Asian stock also tracked the negative sentiment on the US market Japan's Nikkei stock index slid 2.79 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI was off 3.2 per cent. Reportedly, oil prices rose more than $1 on Tuesday as the recent sharp falls due to the coronavirus pandemic encouraged bargain hunters to come forward.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 17, 2020 03:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).