Market battles Gulf war: Investors poorer by Rs 16.26 lakh crore in 5 days

MUMBAI: Stock markets slid for the fifth day in a row on Friday in an exceptionally volatile session, and logged their worst week in over two years amid intense selling and foreign outflows triggered by escalating tensions in West Asia. Friday's crash comes after a two per cent decline seen in the previous session.

The BSE Sensex tumbled 808.65 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at a three-week low of 81,688.45. The benchmark hit a low of 81,532.68 and a high of 83,368.32 during the day, reflecting a wild swing of 1,835.64 points.

The NSE Nifty slumped 235.50 points or 0.93 per cent to 25,014.60. Intra-day, it hit a low of 24,966.80 and a high of 25,485.05.

Market investors became poorer by Rs 16.26 lakh crore in five days of heavy correction in equities. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slumped Rs 16,26,691.48 crore to Rs 4,60,89,598.54 crore ($5.49 trillion) in five days since Friday last.

On a weekly basis, Sensex tanked 3,883.4 points or 4.6 per cent and Nifty by 1,164.35 points or 4.5 per cent in just four sessions, which was their worst week in the past two years.

While a section of market watchers expect the pessimism on the market to continue in the near term amidst rising crude prices and fund flows to cheaper markets like China, another section of analysts suggest that the market may find support soon.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. Markets in mainland China are closed due to a holiday.

European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals. The US markets ended lower on Thursday.

BEAR GRIP

Rs 16.26 L-cr

Investors' wealth lost in 5 days

4,100 points

Sensex plunge in last 5 sessions

BSE SENSEX

81,688.45

FRIDAY'S CLOSING

82,497.10

PREVIOUS CLOSE

808.65

DROP ON FRIDAY

4.54%

SLIDE THIS WEEK

NSE NIFTY 50

25,014

FRIDAY'S CLOSING

235.50

DROP ON FRIDAY

4.45%

SLIDE THIS WEEK

5.61%

FALL IN JUNE '22

FPIs add to scare

Rs 30,613 cr

Amount withdrawn by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) from Indian markets over the last three trading sessions

Rs 15,243 cr

Amount withdrawn by FPIs on Thursday alone, the largest daily outflow in the last four years

COOL ON OIL

• India is not unduly worried about oil prices despite turmoil in West Asia
• India has seen much higher crude oil prices, but crude prices are still not at those levels
• Brent crude for November delivery has gained 4.8% to trade at $77.44 per barrel