Investor wealth tumbled by Rs 5.27 lakh crore on Thursday as markets witnessed a sharp decline, aligning with the fall in Adani Group stocks. The benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 422.59 points, or 0.54 per cent, to close at 77,155.79 after plunging 775.65 points, or 0.99 per cent, earlier in the day to 76,802.73.
The market capitalization of BSE-listed entities settled at Rs 4,25,38,908.01 crore, reflecting a decline of Rs 5,27,767.57 crore.
Adani Ports emerged as one of the biggest losers among the 30-share Sensex pack, hitting the lower circuit limit of 20 percent following fraud and bribery accusations in the US. The stock eventually closed at Rs 1,114.70, down by 174.35 points or 13.53 per cent.
A similar decline was observed in other Adani Group stocks, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Energy Solutions, and Adani Green Energy.
Other major laggards included NTPC, State Bank of India, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, and Bajaj Finserv. In contrast, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, and Kotak Mahindra Bank emerged as gainers.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP at Mehta Equities Ltd, said, “While the market has been in the midst of a bear hug for the past few weeks, today’s fall can also be attributed to the news of the Adani Group facing bribery charges, which triggered a massive sell-off in its stocks. Besides this, most Asian and European markets were in negative territory, which also weighed on sentiment.”
This sharp decline in investor wealth coincided with Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) withdrawing equities worth Rs 3,411.73 crore on Tuesday.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, commented, “The domestic market faced renewed pressure due to escalating tensions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and heightened nuclear concerns. Additionally, the fresh Adani case with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) added to the market’s woes. Although there were signs of a slowdown in FII selling, it surged again, adversely affecting market sentiment, particularly in the financial sector.”
The BSE small-cap index fell by 0.67 percent, while the mid-cap index declined by 0.37 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, services plummeted 4.14 percent, utilities dropped 3.16 per cent, commodities declined 1.55 per cent, oil and gas fell 1.45 per cent, power decreased by 1.34 per cent, and auto slipped 0.91 per cent. Conversely, healthcare, IT, realty, and tech sectors posted gains.
On the BSE, 2,736 stocks declined, 1,237 advanced, and 92 remained unchanged.
