Investors lose Rs 21 lakh crore as Sensex tumbles 4,500 pts in seven sessions

Investors have lost over Rs 21 lakh crore since January 17 as Indian equity market suffered losses in line with global equities. Sensex which stood at 61,308 on January 17 has tumbled 4,468 points till date in a series of loss-making sessions except the one on January 25.

The crash has wiped out Rs 21.28 lakh crore from investor wealth  in seven trading sessions. Market cap of BSE listed firms fell to Rs 258.74 lakh crore today against Rs 280.02 lakh crore on January 17.

Sensex fell 1,017 points to 56,840 in early trade today as Asian markets declined tracking Federal Reserve's comments on the interest rates hike to tame rising inflation. The Federal Reserve said it was likely to hike interest rates in March and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month.

Parth Nyati, Founder, Tradingo said, "Globally markets are very volatile amid hawkish US Fed and rising geopolitical tension and Indian markets are also facing the same pressure due to heavy FIIs' selling. If we look at the Indian markets then there are lots of positive triggers that may help our market to outperform but we just need some calmness in global markets. The market is not going in the budget with any euphoria so there is a good chance of a post-budget rally and if we look at the last three years' trend then the market corrects ahead of budget then it witnesses a post-budget rally."

Stock Market LIVE: Sensex tanks 1000 pts, Nifty below 17k; Titan slips 4%

The possibility of reduction of liquidity by the central bank in US economy pulled Asian markets lower today. Market benchmarks in Tokyo and Hong Kong fell by more than 2%. Seoul and Sydney sank nearly 3%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 2.5% to 216,339.53 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.2% to 23,753.94. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9% to 3,423.60.

Also read: Investors stay bullish even as benchmarks plunge

The Kospi in Seoul retreated 2.9% to 2,630.65 and Sydney's S&P 500 was off 2.6% at 6,782.50.

The crash in Asian markets affected the Indian stock market, which opened after the Republic Day holiday.

Nifty lost 302 points to 16,975 in early trade. BSE midcap and small cap indices sank 533 points and 260 points, respectively. India VIX, the market's volatility index, rose 6.84% to 22.86 today.

The crash in market comes a day after benchmark indices rebounded after falling for five consecutive sessions. On January 25, Indian market snapped its five days of losing streak. Sensex rebounded 366 points to 57,858.15 and Nifty ended 128.85 points higher at 17,277.95.

Earlier, Sensex had lost 3,367 points since January 17 in five straight sessions. Nifty too had tumbled 1,159 points in five days.