The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange lost another 1.24 per cent (80.99 points) to close Wednesday at a two-month low of 6454.46.
Selling was reported across all sectors, with scrips of consumer durable, banks, public sector companies and technology companies reporting the largest losses. But select fast moving consumer goods company counters were in the limelight today.
Dealers said selling pressure came from all quarters, the bearish undertone being set by the lack of fresh FII buying.
According to data posted on the Securities and Exchange Board of India website, FIIs sold equity worth Rs 42.50 crore (Rs 425 million) on Tuesday after buying a small amount of equity worth Rs 43.80 crore (Rs 438 million) on Monday.
Dealers said though mutual funds have been buying consistently, their buying has been swamped by the wave of selling from other quarters. Domestic mutual funds bought equity worth Rs 91.29 crore (Rs 912.9 million) on Tuesday, on top of the purchases of Rs 142.34 crore (Rs 1.42 billion) on Monday.
In the BSE Sensex basket, 19 out of the 30 scrips closed lower. The breadth of the market was negative, with losers outpacing gainers 19:5.
Sustained selling pressure in the last 9 trading days since March 10 has knocked off 6.98 per cent (Rs 1, 24,418 crore) from investor wealth, measured in terms of the market capitalisation of stocks traded on the BSE.
The BSE's market capitalisation has declined from Rs 17,83,360 crore (Rs 17833.6 billion) on March 10 to Rs 16,58,942 crore (Rs 16589.42 billion) on March 23 and the 30-scrip Sensex, has lost 6.6 per cent (453 points) in value.
The erosion in the investor wealth has been spread across the board: eight in every 10 stocks traded in the last nine trading days has indeed lost value. Only 10 sectors of the 112 sectors classified by Business Standard Research Bureau showed some gains.
These gains, however, were small, ranging between one per cent and six per cent. The other 102 sectors succumbed to the selling pressure of the last nine trading days and the average loss in value works out to 7.13 per cent.
Scrips in the banking, refineries, power, information technology and diversified sectors were the major losers in value and their combined loss in value accounts for more than half of the fall in the market capitalisation.
Bank stocks have been the largest
The power sector was the third largest loser with a loss in market capitalisation estimated at Rs 11,063 crore (Rs 110.63 billion), followed by the information technology sector, diversified, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, non-banking finance companies and fast moving consumer goods sectors.
Out of the 2,602 stocks actively traded stocks, 2027 stocks making up 78 per cent of the sample turned losers and the total erosion in market capitalisation of these scrips adds up to Rs 1,30,402 crore (Rs 1304.02 billion) or 8 per cent of the value on March 10. Only 575 stocks posted some gains and the market capitalisation of these stocks increased by Rs 5,984 crore (Rs 59.84 billion) or 3.96 per cent.
The aggregate market cap of 30 stocks in the Sensex basket declined by Rs 52,549 crore (Rs 525.49 billion) or 6.8 per cent in the last 9 trading sessions: from Rs 7,72,734 crore (Rs 7727.34 billion) on March 10 to Rs 7,20,186 crore (Rs 7201.86 billion) on March 23, as market prices of all 30 stocks declined in this period.
Within the Sensex basket, the HDFC Bank scrip was the largest loser in percentage terms, with a 13.6 percent erosion in capitalisation, followed by theHDFC scrip (13.5 per cent), Tata Power (13.4 per cent), Grasim Industries (12.6 per cent), State Bank of India (11.4 per cent) and Maruti Udyog (10.8 per cent).
In value terms, ONGC was the largest loser with a Rs 9,818 crore (Rs 98.18 billion) erosion in market capitalisation, followed by NTPC {Rs 7,668 crore (Rs 76.68 billion)}, Reliance Industries {Rs 5,688 crore (Rs 56.88 billion)}, Indian Oil Corporation {Rs 4,584 crore (Rs 45.84 billion)}, State Bank of India {4,450 crore (Rs 44.5 billion)}, Wipro {Rs 3,299 crore (Rs 32.99 billion)}, HDFC {Rs 2,749 crore (Rs 27.49 billion)} and GAIL {Rs 2,731 crore (Rs 27.31 billion)}.
What's bugging the market
Leaders sit out
Street shocked