Bloodbath on Dalal Street erodes nearly Rs 5 lakh cr investor wealth

Domestic investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 5 lakh crore on Friday as equity markets crashed tracking global equity selloff amid rising uncertainty over the economic impact of coronavirus outbreak.

Market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline after the 30-share index sank 1,100.27 points, or 2.77 per cent, to 38,645.39, and the NSE Nifty cracked 329.50 points, or 2.83 per cent, to 11,303.80.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 4,65,915.58 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,47,74,108.50 crore on the BSE.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,52,40,024.08 crore at the end of trading on Thursday.

All Sensex components were trading in the red, led by losses in Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries.

Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows. On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,127.36 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

Foreign investors have sold equities worth Rs 9,389 crore till Thursday, provisional data on the stock exchanges showed.

On the BSE, 1,602 scrips declined, while 183 advanced and 62 remained unchanged.

In the broader market, the BSE SmallCap index fell 3.45 per cent, while BSE MidCap index declined 3.53 per cent.