Equity investors’ wealth falls by ₹2.39 lakh crore as markets sink

Investors’ wealth fell by ₹2.39 lakh crore on Monday in line with a weak trend in the global equity markets.

The BSE Sensex tanked 861.25 points or 1.46 per cent to settle at 57,972.62. During the day, it tumbled 1,466.4 points or 2.49 per cent to 57,367.47.

Tracking the weakness in global equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by ₹2,39,781.58 crore to ₹2,74,56,330.02 crore.

“Investors had already got the wind of bearish undertone for the start of the week after the US Fed chairman’s speech on Friday talked about further rate hikes going ahead to tame inflation. And as expected, Sensex crashed nearly 1,500 points in early trades before recovering some ground to close off its day’s low.

“Traders are expecting more bouts of volatility in coming sessions on concerns that continuation of rate hikes in the US could pose a threat to the global economy and hurt growth prospects,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

Tech Mahindra was the biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, falling 4.57 per cent, followed by Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India.

On the other hand, Maruti, Asian Paints, Nestle, ITC, M&M and Hindustan Unilever were among the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended marginally higher.

Stock markets in Europe were trading lower during mid-session deals. The US markets had ended significantly lower on Friday.

“Indian market kicked off the new week with a deep cut followed by a sharp sell-off in global markets on the back of hawkish commentary by the US Fed chairman Jerome Powell,” Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd, said.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth ₹51.12 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.