Investor Wealth Plunges Over Rs 3.39 Lakh Crore In Early Trade

The BSE benchmark dropped 1,011 points to 57,914.10 after a weak opening; the MCap of the BSE-listed firms declined by Rs 3,39,519 crore to Rs 2,64,41,844 crore in early trade

The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday started trading on a negative note and slumped amid sell-off across all sectors led by weak global cues. Image: File photo

New Delhi: Wealth of investors tumbled over Rs 3.39 lakh crore during early trade on Friday amid an extremely weak broader market trend.

The BSE benchmark dropped 1,011 points to 57,914.10 after a weak opening.

The market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms declined by Rs 3,39,519 crore to Rs 2,64,41,844 crore in early trade.

The selling pressure was caused by factors such as rising oil prices, relentless selling by foreign institutional investors, rising US bond yields, and faster tightening by central banks globally to fight inflation amid an economic recovery.

The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday started trading on a negative note and slumped amid sell-off across all sectors led by weak global cues.

At 13.40, the Sensex and Nifty recovered some of the losses and was trading 560 points down to 58,363. While the NSE Nifty was at 17,438, down 167 points.

“US inflation in January came worse-than-expected at 7.5 per cent pushing the 10-year yield to 2.03 per cent discounting a hawkish Fed, which may raise rates by at least by 100 basis points this year. A rate hike by even 50 bps in March is looking increasingly probable now. This is not good news for global equity markets,” V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told PTI.

IT stocks were the biggest drag among the BSE 30-share benchmark frontline companies pack. Infosys was the biggest loser, falling nearly 3 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra and Wipro.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices were trading over 1 per cent lower.

In the previous trading session, the 30-share BSE benchmark settled 460.06 points higher at 58,926.