MUMBAI, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Indian stock market halted its trading on Monday morning for the second time this month after the benchmark index of Bombay Stock Exchange - Sensex hit its lower circuit of 10 percent amid rising cases of novel coronavirus.
The lower circuit was hit at 9:58 a.m. local time and the trading was halted for 45 minutes. Pre-open call auction session would resume at 10:43 a.m. local time.
Normal trades would resume after pre-open session at 10:58 a.m.
Sensex was down at 26,924.11 points, down 2,991.85 points or 10 percent from its previous close on Friday.
India VIX, that index that measures the volatility in the market rose by 5.62 percent to 70.87 in early morning trade.
The fall in broad equity markets saw Indian rupee slumped to a new record low on Monday morning of 76.15 to the U.S. dollar, down 1.25 percent from the previous close before recovering at 76.01 to the U.S. dollar, dealers said.
Earlier this month on March 13, trading was halted when the lower circuit had triggered for the first time in 12 years since the global financial crisis.
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 421 on Monday, India's federal health ministry said.
