Rs 10 lakh crore market wealth lost as investors book profit from record highs

Investor wealth has eroded by Rs 10.89-lakh crore in five sessions as equity market took a U-turn from record high scaled last Thursday. Market wealth, which rose to a record Rs 199.02 lakh crore on January 21 declined to Rs 188.13 lakh crore on BSE today.

In five sessions, Sensex has tumbled 3,666 points to 46,518 (intra day low) from record high of 50,184. Similarly, Nifty crashed 1,040 points against its all-time high of 14,753 hit on January 21.

In line with weak global equities, Sensex ended 535 points lower at 46,874 and Nifty fell 149 points to 13,817 today.

On closing basis, Sensex has lost 2,918 points since January 20. The index ended at 49,724 last Wednesday.

Similarly, Nifty is down 827 points since January 20.  The index closed at 14,644  last Wednesday.

Profit booking from record highs, FII outflows , pre budget nervousness and weak global cues have caused massive correction in market. FIIs have withdrawn Rs 3,089.21 crore in last three trading sessions.

On January 22, FIIs pulled out Rs 635.69 crore, followed by Rs 765.30 crore withdrawal on January 25 this week. In the previous session, FIIs sold securities worth Rs 1,688.22 crore in equity market triggering weak sentiment on bourses.

Global markets, which rose after US markets on January 20 hit all-time highs on rising hopes of additional stimulus from the new government, have cooled down as road map for fiscal stimulus remains unclear.

Sensex ends 535 points lower, Nifty at 13,817; HDFC twins, HUL, Maruti top losers

On January 27, Dow Jones closed 633 points lower at 30,303. Nasdaq too fell 355 points lower at 13,270 marking Wall Street's worst session since October. Sensex and Nifty, which followed a rally in global market and scaled record highs last week, are now correcting in line with their global peers.

In today's trade, HUL was the top loser in the Sensex pack on Thursday, shedding 3.65 per cent, followed by Maruti, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv.

On the other hand, Axis Bank, SBI, ONGC, ICICI Bank and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers, jumping up to 6.16 per cent.

Market breadth was positive with 1,392 stocks ending lower against 1482 ending higher on BSE. 166 stocks were unchanged.

Number of shares rising to their 52-week highs stood at 154 against 40 touching their 52-week lows. 283 stocks hit their upper circuits against 261 falling to their lower circuits, respectively.

Analysts advise market participants to be cautious in the near term.

Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said,"Purely looking at the chart, the trend is likely to remain downwards as long as Nifty stays below 14,200 - 14,300. Any short-term bounce towards these levels is likely to get sold into. On the other side, there is a cluster of support around 13,700 - 13,500. For the time being, we expect the index to gyrate within this range with lot of stock specific moves.

At this juncture, we do not advice aggressive bets on the short side, rather we are likely to see stock specific trades on both sides. Traders should look to identify such potential themes and position accordingly by following strict stop losses. The way banking had a smart rebound in the last hour, all eyes would be on this space, which would provide some direction to Nifty. For the coming session, 13,900 followed by 14,000 is to be seen as immediate hurdles; whereas on the downside, 13,750 - 13,700 should provide some support. The coming session is likely be less volatile and we do not expect a bigger move on either sides one day ahead of the Budget."

Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said, "Index closed a day on negative note for fifth consecutive session at 13,825 with loss of one per cent and formed a Doji candle pattern on the daily chart which suggest some reversal may be expected in coming sessions. The index has formed a good base near 13,800-13,700 zone if managed to hold above-said levels then we may see a swift pullback in Nifty towards 13,900-14,000 zone which is immediate hurdle on higher side"