Stock market crash: Benchmark stock market indices fell today following weak global cues as there remained a risk of the US economy facing a recession and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East worsen. Both Sensex and Nifty were down and most of the other broader market indices were also trading in negative territory, with smallcap and midcap stocks declining as much as the benchmarks.
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Investor wealth declined by ₹10.24 lakh crore to ₹446.92 lakh crore compared with a valuation of ₹457.16 lakh crore recorded in the previous session.
46 Nifty stocks were trading in the red. Top five gainers on the Nifty50 were Britannia, Sun Pharma, HUL, Dr Reddy's and Nestle India while the top losers were Tata Motors, Hindalco, Shriram Finance, Tata Steel and ONGC.
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As many as 88 stocks hit their 52-week highs today while 42 shares hit their 52-week lows on BSE in early deals.
All the major sectoral indices also fell with big losses across realty, IT, bank and financial services stocks.
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, "The rally in the global stock markets has been driven mainly by consensus expectations of a soft landing for the US economy. This expectation is now under threat with the fall in US job creation in July and the sharp rise in US unemployment rate to 4.3%. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also are a contributing factor."
Read more: Should you invest in stock market amid fears of US recession? ‘Much more resilient’
{{/usCountry}}Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, "The rally in the global stock markets has been driven mainly by consensus expectations of a soft landing for the US economy. This expectation is now under threat with the fall in US job creation in July and the sharp rise in US unemployment rate to 4.3%. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East also are a contributing factor."
Read more: Should you invest in stock market amid fears of US recession? ‘Much more resilient’
{{/usCountry}}Foreign institutional investors sold ₹3,310 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Friday, while domestic investors bought ₹2,965.94 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.