Investors witness wealth erosion of Rs 5.82 lakh cr as equities tank; market sentiments get dampened over renewed Sino-US tensions

New Delhi: Investors witnessed a wealth erosion of Rs 5.82 lakh crore in the BSE-listed companies on Monday tracking heavy sell-off in the market, with benchmark Sensex plunging over 2,002 points. The BSE barometer tanked 2,002.27 points or 5.94 percent to close at 31,715.35. During the day, it touched a low of 31,632.02, lower by 2,085.6 points. “Market sentiments got dampened as tensions flared up between the US and China once again with (US President Donald) Trump threatening to impose new tariffs on China over coronavirus,” Siddhartha Khemka, head (retail research) at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said. [caption id=“attachment_6013191” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He added that on the domestic front, muted quarterly results, zero sales from automakers, extension of lockdown by another 2 weeks, and contraction in manufacturing activity led to profit-booking. The government has extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks till 17 May while restrictions have been eased in lower-risk zones, but travel, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and cinema halls will remain shut. Led by weak trend in the equity market, the market capitalisation of the BSE-listed companies fell by Rs 5,82,695.93 crore to Rs 1,23,58,924.89 crore. ICICI Bank was the biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling nearly 11 percent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC and IndusInd Bank. Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were the only gainers in the BSE index. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices fell 4.25 percent and 3.14 percent, respectively. On the BSE, 1,865 companies declined, while 554 advanced and 178 firms remained unchanged. Sectorally, BSE finance, bankex, metal, consumer durables, realty and auto indices plunged up to 8.26 per cent. Sell-off in other Asian and European equities also played major role in dragging sentiments lower. During the last week that was holiday-shortened, the BSE barometer rallied 2,390.40 points or 7.63 percent.