Today’s stock market witnessed a sharp downturn, shattering the record-breaking spree of the past few months and leaving investors reeling from substantial losses. The Sensex, based on 30 shares of BSE, plummeted by 930.88 points, marking a 1.30 per cent decline and concluding the day at 70,506. The Nifty, reflecting 50 major stocks, also tumbled by 302.95 points or 1.41 per cent, settling at 21,150 points.
Investors bore the brunt of a staggering Rs 9 lakh crore loss during today’s market turmoil. Just a day earlier, the BSE’s market cap stood at Rs 3,59,11,728.30 crore, but by the market close today, it had dwindled to Rs 3,49,79,477.94 crore, resulting in a substantial decrease of Rs 9,32,250.36 crore.
The primary catalyst for this market crash was the prevailing fear of new variants of the coronavirus in the country. As cases of the new variant surged, so did concerns among investors, triggering widespread profit booking and a subsequent market collapse. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has surged to 694, with the Health Ministry reporting a continuous rise in cases linked to the new variants.
In addition to the health crisis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth over Rs 600 crore, contributing to the market’s decline. Notably, only HDFC Bank among the 30 Sensex companies managed to close in positive territory, with shares of 29 other companies ending the day in the red.
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Companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, TCS, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Ultra Chemical, Sun Pharma, ITC, Reliance, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, LT, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, and SBI witnessed significant declines in their stock prices during today’s trading session. The overall sentiment in the market remains tense as investors grapple with the uncertainties posed by the evolving COVID-19 situation and foreign fund movements.
