Investors poorer by Rs 8.5 lakh crore as market turmoil continues for fifth day

The 30-share Sensex has lost 1,785.62 points in the past five trading sessions.

Market turmoil has wiped out Rs 8.47 lakh crore from investor wealth in five days, with the BSE benchmark index tumbling nearly 5% since early last week.

Employees work at computers at a brokerage firm in Mumbai.(Bloomberg)

The 30-share Sensex Monday tanked 536.58 points or 1.46% to end at 36,305.02, extending its downtrend for the fifth straight session. The barometer has lost 1,785.62 points or 4.68% in past five trading sessions.

Led by the extreme bearish market sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies went down sharply by Rs 8,47,974.15 crore to Rs 1,47,89,045 crore.

Liquidity concerns and reports that China has called off planned trade talks with the US weighed on the market sentiment.

“This turmoil which was triggered last week by housing and NBFC’s continued to trouble the market as panic spread. In spite of assuring statements by key government and institutional leaders, market was concerned about the near-term headwinds like quality and increased cost of funds along with tighter liquidity.

“At the same time consolidation in emerging markets, continued increase in oil prices and high valuation further aggravated the anxiety,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Seeking to calm the nerves of worried investors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Monday that the government would take all measures to ensure adequate liquidity for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and mutual funds.

From the 30-share basket, Mahindra & Mahindra has lost the most plunging 6.46% followed by HDFC 6.22%, Indusind Bank 4.94% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone 4.49%.

On the BSE, 2,111 stocks declined and 538 advanced while 168 remained unchanged.

Also, nearly 470 stocks hit their 52-week lows on BSE Monday.