It was a tumultuous Tuesday for investors as benchmark indices on Dalal Street witnessed massive carnage. The bloodbath on the bourses wiped out nearly Rs. 4 lakh crore from investor wealth in a single day of trading.
The flagship indices, Sensex and Nifty, plunged sharply into the red as selling pressure intensified through the morning session. By late morning, the Sensex had crashed over 587 points, plummeting to 72,161. Meanwhile, the Nifty slumped at 186 points to breach the 21,869 level.
Consumer goods, information technology, and energy counters bore the brunt of heavy selling, dragging down their respective sectoral indices. In a flash, The decline wiped off a massive Rs. 3.86 lakh crore from BSE’s market capitalization.
Heavyweight stocks like TCS, Reliance Industries, L&T, Infosys, HUL, ITC and HCL Tech contributed significantly to the plunge. TCS nosedived over 3% after Tata Sons announced plans to sell shares worth Rs. 9,000 crore via block deals. This triggered a cascade effect across the already jittery IT sector.
Global cues were equally hawkish, with US tech stocks extending their rout on fading hopes of an imminent Fed rate cut. Asian peers mirrored the sombre moves, closing deep in the red ahead of the all-important Fed policy announcement.
Conversely, FIIs aggravated matters by relentlessly offloading Indian shares worth over Rs. 2,050 crore. DIIs’ buying of around Rs. 2,260 crore failed to offset the broad-based selling pressure. With rising volatility and risks of further profit booking, analysts warned of choppy trade ahead. Dalal Street is bracing for more chop in the coming sessions.
