As if the ongoing CAA/NRC fiasco, Coronavirus et al were not enough, the crash in crude oil prices drove the Sensex down to its biggest slide since 2010. The Sensex was down 2,350 points, the deepest plunge in a decade.

Reliance Industries, the operator of the world's largest crude oil refinery facility at Jamnagar, saw its share prices slump by as much as 13.65% to hit an intra-day low of 1,96.65.  ONGC also slumped as much as 13% to hit its intra day low at Rs 77.80.

This deep slump, already taking initial momentum due to CAA/NRC in India and Coronavirus outbreak globally, was further fuelled by the crude oil price in international markets, which crashed more than 30% subsequent ot the disintegration of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus alliance trigerring an all-out price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, which will likely have sweeping economic and political consequences.

Saudi started a price war after cutting low its selling price and vowing to unleash its pent-up oil supplies onto a market reeling from falling demand because oof the Coronavirus outbreak.  The crash in crude caused the Brent crude futures to crash by 31.5% whici is the biggest percentage drop since the first Gulf War in 1991 and the lowest since February 2016. The drop in US West Texas Intermediate also witnessed similar statistics with a 27.4% drop.

With Oil price slump entering the Coronavirus equation, the rout in share markets seems to have worsened...with the worst still to come.

Tata Consultancy Services, which is usually seen as a safe exposure, fell nearly 7% in the sell-off on Monday. Clearly, one had to look with a microscope to find a safe haven in the Indian equities.