Sensex and Nifty give up six-day gaining spree; leaves investors poorer by nearly Rs 5.5 lakh crore

It was bloodbath on Dalal Street on Monday as domestic benchmark indices tanked over 2% during the day’s trading session, its biggest loss since May this year. S&P BSE Sensex ended 839 points or 2.13% lower at 38,628 points, while the 50-stock Nifty gave the 11,400 mark and closed at 11,342. Analysts say that equity markets saw profit booking after six-consecutive trading sessions of gaining momentum on the back of growing geo-political tensions. “The losses extended, following reports of increased tensions along the border with China. With increased geopolitical tensions, markets also traded uncertainty and this could impact the market behaviour in the coming days,” said Vinod Nair, Research Head, Geojit Financial Services.

Investor wealth tanks: On the opening bell the market capitalization of all BSE listed firms was at Rs 159 lakh crore. As markets tanked investor wealth in the form of market capitalization of BSE firms went with it. At the closing bell stock markets wiped off nearly Rs 5.5 lakh crore of investor wealth.

Financials bleed: After opening with gains, banking and finance sector stocks faced the wrath of bears. SBI shares were down 5.6% while ICICI Bank was down 4.7%. All banking and finance stocks ended with losses.

Top gainers: Only ONGC and TCS ended with gains on BSE Sensex. Among BSE Midcap constituents, Future Retail was up 20% while Bank of India was up over 3%. Vadilal Industries and WPIL were the top gainers among BSE Smallcap stocks. 

Top drags: On BSE Sensex, Sun Pharma and SBI were the top drags. On BSE Midcap index, AU Small Finance, Shriram Transport Finance, and Adani Transmission were the top drags. Dlink India and Arvind Smartspaces were the worst performing smallcap stocks.

Volatility sky-rockets: India VIX opened at 18 levels and tanked further as markets climbed during the initial hour of trade. The fear gauge of domestic benchmark indices was down to as low as 16.4 during the day but ended up at 23 levels.

Technical take: “We broke the levels of 11500 due to a sharp fall in the Nifty. Today’s low has become an imperative level which will decide the short term direction of this market. If we break 11300 on a closing basis, the markets might turn negative in the short – medium term scenario. In order to resume the uptrend, we need to get past 11600. The next few sessions are going to be a test of discipline, skill and patience. Traders are cautioned not to jump into a trade without weighing the risks associated with the trade. We could see sharp movements,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.