MUMBAI: Indian investors have lost over Rs14 trillion in the last two trading sessions as all listed companies’ market cap on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) skewed to Rs461 trillion which was earlier Rs475 trillion due to Middle East tensions.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty slumped nearly 1 per cent in a volatile trading session on Friday, dragged down by intense selling in FMCG, auto, and energy stocks amid escalating tensions in West Asia and persistent foreign capital outflows.
Additionally, a spike in global crude prices due to supply uncertainty linked to geopolitical tensions dented market sentiment, traders said.
Falling for the fifth consecutive day, the BSE Sensex tumbled 808.65 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at 81,688.45. The benchmark hit a low of 81,532.68 and a high of 83,368.32 during the day, reflecting a wild swing of 1,835.64 points.
The NSE Nifty declined 200.25 points or 0.79 per cent to 25,049.85, reaching a low of 24,966.80 and a high of 25,485.05 intra-day.
Laggards and gainers
From the 30 Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.
In contrast, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, and State Bank of India were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs15,243.27 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled in positive territory, while markets in mainland China were closed due to a holiday. European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals, and US markets ended lower on Thursday.
FIIs moving money away from India
“The last three days have witnessed huge FII selling of Rs30,614 crore in the cash market. FIIs are moving money from expensive India to cheap Hong Kong, anticipating that the monetary and fiscal stimulus being implemented by the Chinese authorities will boost the Chinese economy and improve the earnings of Chinese companies. It remains to be seen how this Chinese recovery will unfold,” said V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.99 per cent to $78.39 a barrel.
