Sensex down 1000 pts in 2 days; Rs 4.45 lakh cr wealth washed out: 6 key points

Equity markets took a pounding for the second straight session on Wednesday, with the benchmark Sensex crashing over 1,000 points in these many sessions underpinned by worries of weak monsoon prospects hurting growth and spiralling up inflation. On Wednesday, the 30-share S&P BSE Sensex ended below 27,000-mark at 26,837.20, down 351.18 points or 1.3 percent. The broader CNX Nifty closed 101.35 points lower or 1.2 percent at 8,135.10. [caption id=“attachment_2277438” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Here are five key points to note as key indices fell for the second session in a row: 1) Investors’ overall wealth in local equities eroded by Rs 2.47 lakh crore today on the BSE and in two sessions a massive Rs 4.45 lakh crore. 2) The BSE Realty index emerged as the top sectoral loser, ending 5.3 percent lower. In intra-day trade, the index crashed 10 percent to hit a 52-week low of 1,348.78 before recovering some ground in late trades. Unitech share was the biggest laggard in real estate pack, plunging 35 percent to Rs 8.70. Others such as Indiabulls Real Estate, HDIL, DLF and Omaxe fell between 1-8 percent each. 3) Weakness in banking stocks also weighed heavily on the sentiment with the BSE Bankex ending 1.4 percent lower at 20,363.35. Among the losers, SBI declined 3.3 percent to Rs 257.55, ICICI Bank lost 2.8 percent to Rs 296, Yes Bank eased 2 percent to Rs 829.25 and Kotak Bank was down 1 percent at Rs 1,345.35. 4) Shares of Nestle India plunged 9 percent to end at Rs 6,191.10, with the company’s market-cap dropping by Rs 5,943 crore in a single session to Rs 59,692 crore. The company is reeling under the raging controversy over the quality of its high brand equity noodles ‘Maggi’, and several states initiating action against it. 5) Select frontline IT stocks bucked the weak market trend. While Infosys rose nearly 1 percent to Rs 2,023.10 and TCS 0.4 percent at Rs 2,610.75. 6) Market analysts expect the weak broad-market trend to continue for a while as forecast of a deficient monsoon remains a major concern for investors. However, they reckon the fall in a market as a good opportunity to enter stocks at current levels as India still remains a good long-term bet in an uncertain global environment.