Equity investors become poorer by Rs 18.43 lakh cr in 5 days of market crash

New Delhi, Dec 20: Equity investors became poorer by Rs 18.43 lakh crore in five days of market crash as the BSE benchmark Sensex tanked 4,091 points, amid unabated foreign fund outflows and weak global trends.

In the past five trading days, the BSE benchmark has tanked 4,091.53 points, or 4.98 per cent.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded Rs 18,43,121.27 crore to Rs 4,40,99,217.32 crore (USD 5.18 trillion) in the last five days.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE benchmark tumbled 1,176.46 points, or 1.49 per cent, to settle at 78,041.59. During the day, it slumped 1,343.46 points, or 1.69 per cent to 77,874.59.

"Nervousness continued to grip investors and stocks across the board went into a tailspin as the dollar's continuing strength against the rupee has been prompting foreign investors to flee local equities and take shelter in safe haven dollar assets," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the 30 blue-chip Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were the biggest laggards.

In contrast, Nestle and Titan were the gainers.

"Disappointment regarding the slower-than-anticipated rate cuts by the US Fed has adversely affected global market sentiment. This bearish outlook is particularly impacting the domestic market, which is already contending with high valuations & low earnings growth. The sell-off has been widespread, with significant declines in mid- and small-cap stocks, where valuations premiumisation is at historical peak," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading in the negative territory. Wall Street ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,224.92 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE midcap gauge tanked 2.43 per cent and smallcap index dropped 2.11 per cent.

All BSE sectoral indices ended lower. Realty slumped 4.07 per cent, power tanked 3.55 per cent, capital goods (3.02 per cent), industrials (2.67 per cent), BSE-focused IT (2.61 per cent), IT (2.51 per cent), consumer discretionary (2.32 per cent) and services (2.29 per cent).

As many as 2,950 stocks declined while 1,045 advanced and 90 remained unchanged on the BSE.