Sensex, Nifty erase gains as coronavirus fears grip global markets

Indian shares gave up gains to slide more than 3% in the last hour of trade on Wednesday, in line with global markets, as fears over the coronavirus pandemic loomed.

The Nifty closed 2.5% lower at 8,967.05, while the benchmark Sensex was down 2.58% at 30,579.09.

In Europe, early gains in London, Frankfurt and Paris were quickly wiped out.

US stocks futures pointed to a higher open, with the S&P 500 e-minis climbing 3.8% to hit their upper limit, a day after Wall Street suffered its biggest drop since the crash of 1987.

In Mumbai, shares of ICICI Bank Ltd slumped 8.9%, while IndusInd Bank tumbled 9.2%. Top lender State Bank of India closed 4.23% down and led losses on the Nifty PSU bank index.

The Nifty metal index, which rose over 3% during the day, erased gains and closed 1.16% lower.