As Dalal Street Joins Worldwide Selloff, Investors Lose Rs. 3.56 Lakh Crore

On August 2, equity indices plummeted as rating agency Fitch abruptly lowered the United States’ sovereign credit rating, frightening investors around the world and causing a market meltdown.

After falling 1,000 points intraday, the BSE Sensex recovered some of its losses to finish 676.53 points or 1.02 percent lower at 65,782.78, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 207 points or 1.05 percent to 19,526.55.

Domestic investors lost Rs 3.56 lakh crore, with the market capitalization of all BSE-listed companies being at Rs 303.24 lakh crore, down from Rs 306.80 lakh crore on August 1.

Reliance Industries lost Rs 18,539 crore in market capitalization in the Sensex pack, followed by HDFC Bank (Rs 15,354 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 7,675.10 crore), Bajaj Finserv (Rs 7,223.41 crore), and Tata Steel (Rs 5184.25 crore).

Nestle India, HUL, Asian Paints, and Tech Mahindra were the only four companies that defied the trend.

Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong all finished lower in Asian markets.

The European markets were in the red. On Tuesday, the US markets finished mostly in the red.

According to exchange statistics, FIIs sold equities worth Rs 92.85 crore on Tuesday.

Brent crude rose 0.80% to $85.59 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark fell 68.36 points, or 0.10 percent, to 66,459.31 in very volatile activity on Tuesday. The Nifty dropped 20.25 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 19,733.55.

Also read: China’s New Children’s Internet Addiction Regulations