Sensex tanks 800 pts, Rs 3 lakh crore lost

Investors lost over Rs 3 lakh crore in wealth on Thursday with the Sensex losing more than 800 points to end below the 23,000 mark.

Concerns over a possible global recession coupled with disappointing earnings by Indian corporates weighed on the markets as the Nifty, too, closed below the 7,000 mark, closing at 6,976.35, down 239.35 points.

“Markets fell steeply on the back of continuing concerns about a global slowdown and the consequent impact on the financial sector. The US Fed also did not provide any further clarity on the possible interest rate movements. Quarterly results declared over the past few days have also not met up to the muted expectations and that also impacted sentiments,” said Dipen Shah, Kotak Securities senior vice-president and head of private client group research.

According to the provisional data available on the SEBI website, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 1,112.66 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,222.12 crore on Thursday.  Declines outnumbered advances over 12:1 on the National Stock Exchange with 1,472 stocks declining and only 119 stocks advancing.

On the day, 317 scrips hit 52 week lows. Vedanta led the list of losers on Nifty 50 ending down 7.36 per cent at Rs 62.30. Other major losers included Tata Motors: Down 6.95 per cent to Rs 271.30; BHEL: Down 6.72 per cent to RS 119.40;  Adani Ports: Down 6.33 per cent to Rs 190; ONGC: Down 5.64 per cent to Rs 201.45.