Investors become poorer by Rs 5.78 lakh cr in two days of market fall

Investors' wealth tumbled over Rs 5.78 lakh crore in two days of market fall amid a weak trend in global markets after a host of central banks hiked interest rates and gave hawkish commentary.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 461.22 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 61,337.81 on Friday.

In the previous trade, the BSE benchmark had tanked 878.88 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at 61,799.03.

In two days, the benchmark has fallen by 1,340.1 points or 2.13 per cent.

Amid the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 5,78,648.39 crore to Rs 2,85,46,359.06 crore in two days.

"Global markets extended their rout as the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) followed the Fed in raising policy rates by half a per cent while maintaining a hawkish tone on inflation.

"The aggressiveness of central banks in combating inflation has raised concerns about the global economy's health," said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

On Friday, in the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 1.44 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.96 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended lower, with realty falling 1.57 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary (1.36 per cent), industrials (1.32 per cent), capital goods (1.26 per cent), teck (1.25 per cent), IT (1.24 per cent) and auto (1.13 per cent).

Dr Reddy's emerged as biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, declining 3.62 per cent, followed by M&M, Asian Paints, TCS, SBI and Titan.

HDFC Bank, HUL, Nestle and Tata Steel ended with gains.

Mohit Nigam, fund manager & head at Hem Securities, said Indian shares opened lower on Friday, dragged by losses across sectors, on recession fears in the US and hawkish commentary by major central banks, following their US counterpart.

A total of 2,213 firms declined, while 1,344 advanced and 105 remained unchanged.

"Nifty fell for the second consecutive session pulled down by weak global cues.

"Global markets were largely down as investors were worried that the resolve of central banks to continue their fight against inflation could tip the economy into recession," Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities, said.