New Delhi, Jun 13 (PTI) Equity investors became poorer by Rs 8.35 lakh crore in two days of market fall, where the benchmark Sensex dropped nearly 2 per cent amid heightened Middle East tensions, which drove Brent crude oil prices to sky-high levels.
Falling for the second day in a row on Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex dived 573.38 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 81,118.60. During the morning trade, it tanked 1,337.39 points or 1.63 per cent to 80,354.59.
In two days, the benchmark has lost 1,396.54 points or 1.69 per cent.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 8,35,799.85 crore to Rs 4,47,21,343.34 crore (USD 5.19 trillion) in two days.
“Indian equities fell sharply, reacting to weak global cues and a surge in crude oil prices after Israel launched military strikes on Iran earlier today. The sharp rise in crude prices weighed on the Indian rupee and led to selling pressure in OMCs, paints, tyres and lubricant stocks,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 7.61 per cent to USD 74.64 a barrel.
“Indian equity markets endured a sharp sell-off on Friday, with the Nifty-50 and Sensex both off their intra-day lows but still closing with significant losses. The market faced pressure from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, surging crude oil prices, and broad-based sectoral weakness,” Satish Chandra Aluri, Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
Among the Sensex firms, Adani Ports, ITC, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.
On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti and Sun Pharma were the gainers.
The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.32 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.30 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, services tumbled 2.06 per cent, bankex (1.01 per cent), FMCG (0.94 per cent), financial services (0.85 per cent), metal (0.81 per cent) and power (0.75 per cent).
Healthcare index and realty were the only winners.
As many as 2,469 stocks declined while 1,516 advanced and 137 remained unchanged on the BSE.
