With the ongoing HMPV virus worry, airline and hotel stocks fell nearly 5% on Monday after the government announced two viral cases in India.
Indigo’s parent company InterGlobe Aviation’s stock declined 4.42 percent to settle at ₹4262.1, while Spice Jet’s stock dropped 4.88 percent to ₹53.02 on Monday, January 6. TAJGVK Hotels & Resorts Limited, a joint venture between IHCL and the GVK Group, saw a 5.26 per cent drop to ₹421.85. Shares of Indian Hotels Company Limited, a Tata-backed business that operates the Taj Group of hotels, fell 3.1% to ₹844.90.
On Tuesday, January 7, at 10:24 a.m., InterGlobe Aviation shares increased by 1.28 per cent to ₹4319.6, while SpiceJet increased by 1.47 per cent to ₹53.8. TAJGVK Hotels & Resorts Limited had a 2.42 per cent increase in share price to ₹432.05, while Indian Hotels Company Limited increased by 2.95 per cent to ₹33.2.
Indian stock market
The Indian stock market collapsed on Monday. The major indices Sensex and Nifty 50 closed the session up more than 1.5 per cent. The Nifty 50 fell below 24,000 points and ended the session at 23,616 points, a 1.6% drop, while the Sensex fell 1.59 per cent to 77,964 points following reports of HMPV virus outbreaks in India. The stock market also slumped due to sluggish Asian markets, the decline of heavyweight stocks such as Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ITC, and Tata Motors, and the dollar trading near a two-year high on Monday.
HMPV cases in India
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Monday that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) discovered two cases of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in Karnataka during routine surveillance for several respiratory viral infections. The two infants, a 3-month-old female and an 8-month-old boy, tested positive for HMPV on January 3, 2025. Both have a history of bronchopneumonia.
Furthermore, the government has reported that the patients have no recent international travel history.
So far, the government has not issued any guidelines or norms governing international travel or passenger mobility. As of Monday evening, India had reported five HMPV cases. Apart from HMPV instances in Karnataka, two cases were reported in Chennai and one in Ahmedabad.
Union Health Minister J P Nadda has promised that the government is closely monitoring the country’s escalating HMPV cases.
“On recent reports regarding the cases of HMPV in China, the Health Ministry, the ICMR (the Indian Council of Medical Research) and the National Centre for Disease Control are keeping a close watch on the situation in China as well as in the neighbouring countries,” Nadda said.
