Investors' wealth eroded by Rs 7.37 lakh crore on Monday morning, as the equity markets fell sharply with the BSE Sensex tumbling 1,192 points. Markets were dragged down by Reliance Industries and unabated selling by foreign investors.
Investors also turned cautious ahead of the US presidential elections and Federal Reserve interest rate decision scheduled to be announced later this week. The BSE benchmark tanked 1,192 points to 78,532.12 during the morning trade.
In line with a weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 7,37,744.54 crore to Rs 4,40,72,863.01 crore (USD 5.24 trillion).
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Titan and Tata Steel were among the major laggards. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 211.93 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Foreign investors pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around USD 11.2 billion) from the Indian stock market in October, making it the worst-ever month in terms of outflows, triggered by the elevated valuation of domestic equities and attractive valuations of Chinese stocks.