Investors’ wealth tumbles ₹86,742 cr as stocks plunge
- Indian stocks recovered from their day's lows but still ended in the red on Wednesday, tracking global cues
Investors' wealth tumbled ₹86,741.74 crore on Wednesday, mirroring weakness in the global equity markets amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Indian equities recovered from their day's lows but still ended in the red on Wednesday, tracking global cues. Globally, stocks were under renewed pressure on Wednesday as Russia showed no signs of stopping its assault on Ukraine.
Sensex fell 778.38 points to end the day at 55,468.90, while Nifty was lower by 187.45 points at 16,606.45.
Auto and bank stocks bled, while metals rallied. Nifty bank, financials, auto indices fell over 2% each, while metal index closed more than 4% higher. Broader markets also ended the day in the red, India VIX rose 2%.
Surging crude prices and foreign capital outflows also weighed on investor sentiment.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies tanked ₹86,741.74 crore to reach ₹2,51,52,303.35 crore in tandem with the massive selloff.
Maruti Suzuki was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 6%, after the country's largest carmaker reported subdued sales and production figures for February, hit by the ongoing global semiconductor shortage. Other auto stocks too bore the brunt of heavy selling.
Dr Reddy's, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and UltraTech Cement were among the other prominent laggards, slipping as much as 5.14%. On the other hand, Tata Steel, Titan, Reliance Industries, Nestle India and Axis Bank climbed up to 5.54%.
Market heavyweight Reliance Industries spurted 1.67% after crude oil prices touched the $110 per barrel mark. The market breadth was negative, with 23 of the 30 Sensex constituents closing in the red.
"Indian markets had to face a double whammy situation today where geopolitical tension is a major headwind while a sharp surge in crude oil prices is a key risk for the Indian market because Brent Crude has crossed the $110 mark. If we look at the headline indices then the market was looking very weak but there was some buying in the broader market from lower levels," said Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
As of now, news flows related to the Russia-Ukraine crisis and movement in crude oil prices are the key dominating factors for the volatility in the market, he added.
"Markets traded volatile and lost over a percent amid feeble global cues. The news of war intensifying between Russia-Ukraine led to a weak start, which further deteriorated citing a sharp surge in crude oil prices," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
(With inputs from PTI)
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