Monday Mayhem! Investors lose Rs 3.78 lakh cr as Sensex plunges 525 pts; Nifty settles below 17,400

NEW DELHI: Domestic benchmark indices gave in to the global sell-off on Monday and dived amid a drop in commodity prices and the Evergrande crisis in China. The metal block was the biggest drag while FMCG names saw buying.

Massive wealth destruction was witnessed on Dalal Street. Equity investors were left poorer by Rs 3.78 lakh crore, as their total wealth represented by BSE market capitalisation declined to Rs 255.18 lakh crore. This means they lost over Rs 1,000 crore per minute!

The 30-share pack Sensex fell 524.96 points or 0.89 per cent to close at 58,490.93. The index gyrated 813 points before closing near the day’s low. Its broader peer NSE Nifty declined 188.25 points or 1.07 per cent to 17,396.90.

"Following high volatility and weak global sentiments, the domestic market ended in a bear grip with metal and PSU banks leading fall. Global markets traded negatively as investors were cautious ahead of multiple central bank policy meetings scheduled this week," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• Tata Steel tanks 10 per cent as commodity prices sink globally
• FMCG stocks stand tall amid sell-off, HUL gains about 3 per cent
• India VIX, a barometer of volatility and fear, spikes 15 per cent
• NDTV hits 10 per cent upper circuit on Adani buyout buzz
• IRCTC cools off, falls further 4 per cent on profit-booking

Among the bluechip names, HUL was the top gainer, rising 2.88 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, ITC, Nestle India, HCL Tech Britannia Industries and Reliance Industries were other gainers.

Tata Steel was the top loser in the Nifty pack for another day, falling 10 per cent. JSW Steel, Hindalco, UPL, Bharat Petroleum, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Tata Motors were others that ended in the red.

Broader market indices also ended lower, underperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap declined 1.73 per cent and Nifty Midcap fell 2.16 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended down 1.33 per cent.

Gujarat Narmada Fertilisers, KEC International, KEI Industries, Indian Hotel, GMR Infra and Tata Elxsi were top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 2-8 per cent.

National Aluminium, Rain Industries, Hindustan Copper, Jindal Steel, SAIL and Indiabulls Housing Finance were major losers from broader market space, falling in the range of 5-10 per cent.

Barring Nifty FMCG index that rose 0.91 per cent, all sectoral indices on NSE ended lower. Nifty Metal was down 6.6 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank followed with a 4.18 per cent drop and Nifty Realty was down 2.14 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of losers as 1,036 stocks ended in the green, while 2,338 names settled with cuts. As many as 228 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 25 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 325 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 310 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading lower. London-based FTSE was down 1.59 per cent while Paris and Frankfurt declined 2.07 per cent and 2.16 per cent, respectively. In Asia, most markets were closed for trading and those that opened ended with cuts.