Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report

Indian shares mixed on Tuesday as investors worry about the effect of the new coronavirus strain on the global economy.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.34% at 13,282.65 by 05:20 GMT while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.33% to 45,401.30.

 Both indexes increased as much as 0.8% earlier on before falling.

On Monday, the index slid 3 %, snapping six straight sessions of gains as countries close their borders from Britain. 

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Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services in Kochi said, "the news related to the new coronavirus is being absorbed by the market and that explains the panic, most people seem to be reacting to it now and we are seeing some pressure after the initial bounce."

The volatile index in India jumped as much as 4.14%, its highest in more than five weeks on Tuesday.

The decline in the sectoral indexes was led by the Nifty Media index and the Nifty PSU Bank index. It fell by 4.37% and 3.93% respectively.