NEW DELHI: Airline stocks faced heavy headwinds on Thursday as concerns over enhanced travel restrictions amid spreading of coronavirus infections rattled investor sentiment. Shares of IndiGo, SpiceJet and the defunct Jet Airways were deep in the red in the morning trade, with SpiceJet slumping over 18 per cent.
The broader market crashed as the benchmark 30-share Sensex plunged over 2,000 points. InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo tumbled 10 per cent to Rs 1,039.35 apieice, a day after it said that quarterly earnings would be hit due to fall in daily bookings amid the coronavirus outbreak.
SpiceJet dropped over 18 per cent to Rs 49.40 while Jet Airways fell nearly 5 per cent to Rs 18.95. Uncertainty over the outcome of the ongoing insolvency process and reports of bidders not being interested in Jet Airways added to the negative sentiments.
Equities and crude oil prices plummeted again on Thursday after US President Donald Trump banned all travel from Europe to the US for a month to fight the coronavirus, ramping up fears of a global economic recession.
The news came after the World Health Organization officially labelled the outbreak a pandemic and hit out at "alarming levels of inaction" for its spread.