Investor wealth eroded by Rs 6.59 lakh crore on Monday send shock waves across corporates
The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 1,406.73 points or 3 per cent to close at 45,553.96. The benchmark hit an all-time high of 47,055.69 during the session.
Following the sharp selling, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms plummeted by Rs 6,59,313.65 crore to Rs 1,78,79,323.05 crore.
One of the reason attributed for this collapse is due to fact On Saturday, the UK government announced a lockdown in various parts of the country, including London, saying that more than half of all new Covid-19 cases had been caused by a mutated, more infectious coronavirus strain.
The new virus strain is said to be 70 per cent more transmissible. Following this, a number of countries, including India, imposed travel bans ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday season.
European shares slumped as the rapid spread of a new strain of the coronavirus led to a more stringent lockdown in England and a travel ban from many countries, while a Brexit trade deal still hung in the balance, Reuters reported.
London’s FTSE shed 2.1 per cent,
Germany’s DAX 2.3 per cent and
pan-European STOXX 600 index slid 2.3 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei shed 0.40 per cent while US futures were down 0.60 per cent, indicating a weak start for Wall Street.
Another reason attributed said Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking. “Uncertainties over the Brexit deal also dented the investors’ sentiments,”
In India the fall was more and All 30 Sensex companies closed the day with losses, with ONGC tanking the most by 9.15 per cent, followed by Indusind Bank, M&M, SBI, NTPC and ITC which shed up to 6.98 per cent.
“Concerns of new COVID-19 strains in the UK and emerging doubts over efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination dented investors’ sentiments globally.
“Indian markets were the worst performer today… profit-booking could also be a key reason as domestic equities have outperformed global markets by a wide margin in recent months,” said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.
In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices tanked up to 4.57 per cent.
All BSE sectoral indices also closed lower, with metal, oil and gas, utilities, realty, basic materials, industrials, power and bankex falling as much as 6.05 per cent.
At the BSE, 2,433 companies declined, while 592 advanced and 167 remained unchanged.
