As markets extended losses for the sixth successive session, investors became poorer by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore, with Rs 2.7 lakh crore of wealth being wiped out in today’s session only amid sell-off in world stocks.
The BSE Sensex cracked below the 34,000-mark by plunging about 1,275 points or 3.6 per cent in opening trade today. It later managed to recover some of the lost ground and finally ended at 34,195.94, down 561.22 points or 1.61 per cent.
The Sensex slumped 309.59 points, or 0.88 per cent, to end at 34,757.16 yesterday. The index had crashed 839.91 points, or 2.34 per cent, on Friday. Extending its falling streak for the sixth straight session, the 30-share index plunged 2,087.31 points. Post the Union Budget on February 1, the 30-share index has plummeted by 1,710.72 points.
Led by a continuous sell-off, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies plummeted by Rs 9,90,476.93 crore to Rs 1,45,22,830 crore in six trading sessions.
“Global sell-off due to spike in global bond yield resulted in a knee-jerk reaction in the domestic market. We are seeing an extended impact in the domestic market post the LTCG and fiscal deficit turmoil. However, towards close, market recouped some losses led by value buying on account of earnings growth expectations,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd. Markets suffered after other Asian indices closed in the red, tracking record-breaking losses at the Wall Street overnight.
Investor sentiment has also been hit after the government announced in the Budget a proposal to levy 10 per cent long- term capital gains (LTCG) tax on equities and projected a fiscal deficit of 3.5 per cent of GDP for 2017-18. It was a sea of red as 29 out of 30-Sensex components ended with losses led by Tata Motors.
Tata Steel ended with a marginal gain of 0.06 per cent. As many as 225 stocks hit their 52-week lows on BSE today. On BSE, 2,223 stocks declined, 529 advanced and 149 remained unchanged. The small-cap and mid-cap stocks dropped by 2.19 per cent and 1.68 per cent, respectively.
