 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Investor wealth slumped by Rs 1.55 lakh crore on Thursday today, dragged down by massive selling in the stock markets where nearly seven out of ten shares closed lower.
The BSE's benchmark Sensex nosedived by 526.41 points or 2.74 per cent to 18,719.29, registering its biggest single day fall since September 2011 on fears of fund outflows if Federal Reserve sticks to its plan of slowing down monetary stimulus later this year.
The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty plunged 166.35 points, or 2.86 per cent to close at 5,655.90. Led by the huge sell-off in the stock market, investor wealth worth Rs 1.55 lakh crore to end at Rs 63.21 lakh crore.
Among the Sensex constituents, barring Wipro and Sun Pharma, 28 stocks ended the day with losses in the range of 0.18 to 9.62 per cent. All the BSE 13 sectoral indices also ended the day lower, led by realty index.
Market movers such as RIL, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank lost 3.84 per cent, 4.29 per cent and 3.75 per cent, respectively.
The market breadth was negative as 1,690 stocks fell while just 612 rose.
"The announcement on progressive roll back of current stimulus package by Fed Chairman set a negative tone for markets across the globe. Situation worsened with rupee hitting all-time low against dollar and additionally, China reported further weakness in manufacturing activity," said Jayant Manglik, President Retail Distribution, Religare Securities Ltd.
The rupee slumped to an all-time low of 59.93 against the dollar, tracking a weak trend in other global currencies. US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the Federal
Reserve will likely slow its bond-buying programme later this year and ultimately end it next year because the US economy is showing strong signs of recovery.
A pullback in Fed's $85 billion-a-month programme is being interpreted as a move that will hit inflows to emerging markets like India.