Equity benchmark Sensex sank nearly 3,000 points to hit its lower circuit limit in morning session today, triggering a 45-minute trading freeze as coronavirus-led lockdowns across the world stoked fears of a massive global recession. After opening 2,718 points lower, the BSE barometer plunged 2,991.85 points or 10 per cent to 26,924.11. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 842.45 points, or 9.63 per cent, to 7,903.

As an automatic mechanism to freefall in the market, when an exchange plunges 10 per cent before 1 pm, trading is halted on stock exchanges for 45 minutes. All Sensex components were trading in the red, with Axis Bank tanking up to 20 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp and M&M.

According to traders, extreme lockdown measures taken by government in India and world over has put immense pressure in investor sentiment. Stock exchanges and regulatory officials, however, dismissed suggestions about curtailment of trading hours in wake of the pandemic. The rupee too plunged 92 paise against US dollar to 76.12. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil futures fell 3 per cent to USD 26.17 per barrel.