Equity investors lose Rs 4.90 lakh crore as Sensex falls nearly 2%

Investors' wealth eroded by over Rs 4.90 lakh crore on Friday amid a sharp fall in equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1,020.80 points or 1.73 per cent to settle at 58,098.92. During the day, it tumbled 1,137.77 points or 1.92 per cent to 57,981.95.

The market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms plummeted by Rs 4,90,162.55 crore to Rs 2,76,64,566.79 crore on Friday.

This is the third day of decline for the equity market and the BSE benchmark has fallen by 1,620.82 points or 2.71 per cent during this time.

In three days, investors wealth has eroded by Rs 6,77,646.74 crore.

"With the latest round of interest rate tinkering by the US central bank, investors have turned risk averse and are dumping shares at will. Traders are also worried about the escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is prompting them to exit equities and park funds in safe haven dollar assets," said Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities Ltd.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, Power Grid slumped 7.93 per cent. The other major laggards were Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, HDFC and IndusInd Bank.

Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and ITC were the only gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 2.28 per cent and smallcap went lower by 1.92 per cent.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the red, with utilities tumbling 3.48 per cent, power by 3.40 per cent, realty (2.97 per cent), financial services (2.56 per cent), telecommunication (2.17 per cent), capital goods (2.06 per cent) and consumer discretionary (1.82 per cent).

"Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp fall on weekend due to weak global cues. We were outperforming but the level of 112 in the dollar index and the level of 82 in USD INR spooked the market sentiments. FIIs have started selling again in the Indian equity market therefore we are seeing selling pressure in large-cap stocks," Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart Ltd, said.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European bourses were trading in the red in mid-session deals. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Thursday.