Market crash wipes off Rs 5.3 lakh cr of investor wealth

Investor wealth slumped by a whopping Rs 5.3 lakh crore on Friday as the benchmark BSE Sensex crashed more than 1,900 points to post its biggest single-day fall in nearly ten months.

At the close of trade, the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 5,37,375.94 crore to Rs 2,00,81,095.73 crore.

The total market capitalisation of these companies stood at Rs 2,06,18,471.67 crore on February 25.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 1,939.32 points or 3.80 per cent lower at 49,099.99 -- its worst one-day fall since May 4 last year.

Read | Sensex crashes nearly 2,000 points to close under 50,000 

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty plunged 568.20 points or 3.76 per cent to close the session at 14,529.15. It was the biggest single-day drop since March 23 last year.

"Going ahead the market may continue with its consolidation given weak global cues. Investors would closely track bond yields, geopolitical tensions and inflation data for further market direction and would monitor developments around new US stimulus announcement," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd said.

He noted that even high valuations do not provide much comfort and thus correction was long overdue.

"Investors should take this opportunity to buy on dips while traders should trade cautiously with stock-specific action and book profits in regular intervals," he said.

Sector-wise, the banking index suffered the maximum loss with a decline of over 4.8 per cent. Financial and telecom indices too fell sharply by 4.9 per cent and 3.85 per cent, respectively.