New Delhi: Investors’ wealth eroded by Rs 7 lakh crore in two days as stock markets became jittery following the escalation of the India-Pakistan conflict.
India on Thursday night swiftly thwarted Pakistan’s fresh attempts to strike military sites with drones and missiles, including in Jammu and Pathankot, after foiling similar bids at 15 places in northern and western regions of the country as tensions soared between the two countries.
Extending its previous day’s decline, the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge Sensex tanked 880.34 points, or 1.10 per cent, to settle at 79,454.47, in a largely range-bound trading.
The NSE Nifty dropped 265.80 points, or 1.10 per cent, to 24,008.
In two days, the BSE benchmark tumbled 1,292.31 points, or 1.60 per cent.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded Rs 7,09,783.32 crore to Rs 4,16,40,850.46 crore (USD 4.86 trillion) in two days.
“Domestic factors continued to weigh on Indian markets even as global indices stayed firm, as rising tension due to Indo-Pak conflict prompted investors to flee local equities,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
From the Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Adani Ports, ITC, and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.
Titan Company, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were the gainers.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.30 per cent, and the midcap index dipped 0.10 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, realty tanked 2.08 per cent, utilities (1.50 per cent), financial services (1.40 per cent), power (1.11 per cent), bankex (1.04 per cent), FMCG (0.65 per cent), and services (0.63 per cent).
Capital goods jumped 1.67 per cent, industrials (1.10 per cent), consumer durables (1.29 per cent) and metal (0.17 per cent).
“A conflict was anticipated but the market was not expecting the situation to intensify, raising concerns about its duration. However, it is still projected to be a short-lived confrontation, given the strategic advantage and the opponent’s weak economic standing.
“Interestingly, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to invest in the Indian market until yesterday (Thursday), while retail investors remain slightly cautious at the moment,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.
As many as 2,522 stocks declined while 1,343 advanced and 145 remained unchanged on the BSE on Friday.
