Investors Lose Nearly Rs 7 Lakh Cr

Investors became poorer by around Rs 7 lakh crore as the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies dropped to Rs 269.86 lakh crore in Monday’s broad based selloff

Indian benchmark indices had a volatile start to the week as both the Sensex and Nifty shed nearly 1.5 per cent in early trade on Monday on fears of global growth slowing down as a consequence of an imminent recession. Investors became poorer by around Rs 7 lakh crore as the market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies dropped to Rs 269.86 lakh crore.

As of 11:45 am IST, the 30-share Sensex was down 1.59 per cent or 923.31 points and was trading at 57,175.61. Its broader peer the Nifty50 was down 1.79 per cent or 310.35 points and was struggling to hold the 17,000 mark at 17,017.

All sectoral indices were trading in the red with auto, metals, power and realty indices down over three to four percent each.  While the 75 bps rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on 21 September was on expected lines, it was the commentary of Fed Chair Jerome Powell which spooked markets globally, signalling a 125 bps rate hike till December 2022. 

Investors are also eyeing the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting later in the week, with economists predicting a 50 bps hike. Investor sentiment was also dented due to the Indian Rupee hitting record low of 81.55 against the US Dollar in early trade. The Dollar index also surged to around 114-mark. Foreign Institutional Investors are pulling money out of Indian market as a result of rupee depreciation.

Elsewhere in Asia, the markets were broadly trading in Red. Nikkei 225 ended 722 points lower and others such as Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index and Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index were trading in red at the time of writing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.35 per cent on Friday, making it the first major US stock index to fall below its June trough on an intraday basis. The S&P 500 lost 2.50 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.55 percent on Friday.