With 4 months gone and 8 to go, here's the mayhem we witnessed in just 121 days in 2020

An epilogue for a year is usually reserved for December, when one looks back at the past 12 months to get an overall conclusion of how the year transpired. But 2020 warrants a highlight package even as only we’re months into it.

The first four months of the new decade have been overwhelmingly eventful to say the least. Life as we know it, has come to a grinding halt and days just blend into each other as we muddle through the struggles of a quarantine life.

The year has brought along an unprecedented health crisis and a subsequent global economic meltdown as nationwide lockdowns have become the new normal. While the first year of the new decade has ushered in digitisation opportunities and new trends of work from home, contactless delivery and online access etc; for some 2020 is a year they can't wait to get over.

From stock market crash, UK’s Brexit, to the unfortunate deaths of Bollywood stars Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and NBA NVP Kobe Bryant – 2020 would be remembered for multiple misfortunes.

While Coronavirus has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on everyone’s life, many other events seem like a distant memory due to the sheer whirlwind of constant newscycle. Here’s a recap of first four months of 2020.

One constant in 2020 remains volatility in the market. The year, will not only be remembered for the worst single day fall in the Indian market and massive FII outflows, but for the trading halts that occurred after a 12-year period. From record high levels of 12,430 points, the Nifty just days ahead of the Union Budget on February 1 saw a historic crash having retraced ~40 percent to a four-year low of 7,511 on March 24.

The Indian market hit a lower circuit breaker twice this year; on March 13 and March 23. In fact, on March 23, the Sensex and Nifty posted the worst single day fall with an intraday slide of 3,934 point on the Sensex and 1,135 points on Nifty.

The 2020 stock market crash, which has being pegged as worse than 2008 and 2013, so far has eroded over $536 billion in total market capitalisation.

As the coronavirus-led economic disruption continues, several humps like the Yes Bank moratorium, Franklin Templeton debt fund suspension etc have further jolted the market. Multiple forecasts that have cut India’s GDP and corporate earnings have taken a toll on market confidence. The year is historic for "out of turn" RBI Monetary Policy Meets where apart from repo rate cuts, a slew of other measures were announced to support the weakening economy.

Although the Nifty has since returned to 9,700 levels on the back of stable monthly SIP flows – that hit a 12 month high in March 2020 -- an exodus of Rs 55,000 crore by foreign institutional investors and lack of appetite in the bonds market has pushed the rupee to fresh lows of 77 against the dollar.

The pandemic has jolted economies across the globe, with the US GDP declining by 4.8 percent in the March quarter and China seeing a contraction of 6.8 percent in GDP during the same period. Experts believe that 2020 might witness the worst-ever global outlook since the great depression of the 1930s, as over 40 central bankers around the world have rushed to ease monetary conditions, which would further ease economic stress due to coronavirus.

Despite economic stimuli, emerging equity markets like Brazil have seen a 30 percent YTD cut, China has been resilient with a 9 percent cut. The Indian market with a 20 percent YTD cut has moved in tandem with the US market. March 2020 also saw the US markets hit multiple circuit breakers with Dow reporting its worst point fall in history on March 16 when the index plunged 2,997 points intraday.

Tensions in the Middle East, massive collapse in demand and shortage of crude storage have created the perfect concoction for a bear market in crude. In a perfect storm, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell to as low as minus $37.63 per barrel as of April 21 vs the $60 per barrel at the start of 2020. This was the first time on record that oil prices plunged below zero and traded in negative territory.

Brent crude sank over 73 percent YTD to a 20-year low of $16 a barrel on April 22, despite a 9.7 million bpd cut that OPEC and its allies pledged for May and June. Gold, on the other hand, considered a safe investment during times of uncertainty, has gained over 10 percent this year so far.

The anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and NRC (National Register of Citizens) protests took an ugly turn in February 2020 as part of Delhi was impacted by the riots. The violence that killed over 50 people, raged across north-east regions of the capital as vehicles and buildings were set alight. Peaceful women-led protests in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh also became a big talking point during the Delhi Assembly election 2020.

US President Donald Trump dodged a bullet ahead of his maiden two-day trip to India in February. While the impeachment trial for Trump began in January, he was acquitted by the Senate on both articles of impeachment in February. He got a further boost for the impending November presidential elections when Senator Elizabeth Warren, Mike Bloomberg and Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee in the race against Trump.

The killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani on January 2 in a US drone strike was pegged as a domino starter for “World War Three”. The event catalysed a series of incidents that included Iran launching ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that housed American soldiers. Tensions escalated when a Ukrainian flight was mistakenly shot down in Tehran, killing all 176 passengers on board.

The Australian bushfires of 2019-20 pushed countless animal species to extinction. An estimated 1 billion animals perished in the fires, while many are now endangered. The fires were unprecedented in Australia's history, in terms of vast amounts of smoke that left cities like Sydney under a blanket of thick smog for days. The bushfire season, which resulted in the death of 34 people was deemed as one of the worst in Australia’s history, destroying an estimated 18.6 million hectares and almost 6,000 buildings including 2,779 homes.

However, the biggest talking point of 2020 is undoubtedly the coronavirus pandemic with over 3,326,005 cases and 234,505 deaths reported so far across the world. It was on January 7 that WHO was notified about the novel coronavirus and on March 11 it declared the outbreak a pandemic, since then COVID-19 has been grabbing headlines across the world.

India, the world's second-most populous country, however, appears to have dealt with the pandemic effectively so far. The country reported its first coronavirus case on January 30 and since then has managed to limit the spread with 1,147 deaths being reported until April 29 as it implemented a strict nationwide lockdown on March 24. Although experts believe that the worst of the coronavirus peak is behind us, the impact of the outbreak would be felt through the rest of 2020 and possibly more.

With four months gone and 8 remaining, we can only hope and pray that the remainder of the year is more constructive and the year ends of a somber note.