New Delhi: Investor wealth declined by Rs 5.12 lakh crore over four consecutive days of downturn in the equity markets, driven by profit-taking following a historic rally and caution ahead of the Lok Sabha poll results.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 667.55 points or 0.89% to close at 74,502.90 on Wednesday, dropping below the 75,000 mark during intraday trading and further declining by 715.9 points or 0.95% to 74,454.55.
The downturn was fueled by selling in banking stocks and weak global market trends.
Over the four trading sessions since May 24, the benchmark index shed 915.14 points or 1.21% due to profit-taking among wary investors. The Sensex had reached a record high of 76,009.68 on May 27.
The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies fell by Rs 5,12,921.96 crore to Rs 4,15,09,713.94 crore (USD 4.98 trillion) by Wednesday’s close.
From its peak, the Sensex is down 1,506.78 points or 1.98%.
The combined market capitalization of BSE-listed companies had surpassed the USD 5 trillion mark for the first time on May 21.
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty declined by 183.45 points or 0.80% to 22,704.70.
“Nifty dropped by 183 points, marking the fourth consecutive decline as election jitters triggered intense selling. The Sensex fell by nearly 668 points to 74,503,” stated Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd..
Among the underperformers in the Sensex were Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, and Infosys.
Conversely, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, ITC, and Bharti Airtel showed gains.
“Nifty opened gap down and remained under pressure throughout the session to finally close with a loss of 183 points at 22,704 levels. Weak global cues along with uncertainties surrounding election outcome seemed to have led to this sharp fall over the last 14 trading sessions,” commented Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
The BSE midcap index fell by 0.38%, while the smallcap index rose by 0.23%.
Sector-wise, bankex declined by 1.37%, financial services by 1.32%, oil and gas by 0.95%, realty by 0.88%, and services by 0.60%. Healthcare, industrials, telecommunications, capital goods, metals, and power sectors showed gains.
Decliners outnumbered advancers with 2,136 stocks declining, 1,680 advancing, and 113 remaining unchanged on the BSE.
