Sensex dives over 700 points: Rs 4.9L cr investor wealth lost; Adani Total Gas, Adani Green crack up to 20%

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in late morning trade on Friday after recording a rebound in the previous session. The BSE Sensex slumped over 700 points while the NSE barometer Nifty hit the sub-17,700 level. At 10:59 am, the 30-pack Sensex was down 710 points or 1.18 per cent at 59,495. The NSE benchmark was down 200 points or 1.12 per cent at 17,692. Such was the fall in the domestic indices that nearly Rs 4.9 lakh crore of BSE market capitalisation (m-cap) was wiped out.

The domestic indices slipped today, dragged by banks, financials and energy stocks offsetting easing concerns of recession in the US. Further, short-seller Hindenburg Research's report on Adani Group companies continued to pull the indices lower. Hindenburg Research said it holds short positions in the Adani Group companies and flagged risks to the financials of key companies. Adani, in response, refuted the "allegations as baseless". V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Adani stocks are likely to continue under pressure due to the fallout from the Hindenburg report. The elevated valuations of Adani stocks are a serious concern."

Here's a look at today's market fall in numbers:

Rs 4.9 lakh crore investor wealth lost

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, fell Rs 4.87 lakh crore to Rs 271.62 lakh crore compared with a valuation of Rs 276.49 lakh crore recorded yesterday. Frontline stocks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Reliance Industries and Axis Bank contributed to the fall.

152 stocks hit 52-week lows on BSE

As many as 152 stocks hit their 52-week lows today. BSE stocks such as Adani Green, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Atul Ltd, Aurobindo Pharma and 148 other stocks hit their respective one-year low levels. That said, 91 stocks touched their one-year high levels today.

2,389 stocks in the red

Out of 3,396 stocks, 2,389 stocks were seen declining. Only 887 stocks were advancing, while 120 stocks remained unchanged.

Adani Transmission, GLT Infra down up to 20%

Shares of Adani Transmission, GLT Infra, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green and Dixon Technologies (India) fell up to 20 per cent in late morning deals today.

Banks, financials and energy top drags

For Sensex, the major culprits that dragged the index lower were ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, Reliance, SBI, Axis Bank, L&T, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, and Infosys. ICICI, HDFC duo and Reliance alone contributed negatively to around 600-point decline.

On NSE, 11 out of the 15 sub-indices were down. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Energy fell sharply. However, Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma climbed.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 2,393.94 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Wednesday, while domestic investors bought about Rs 1,378.49 crore worth of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

On the global front, Asian markets were seen trading positively today. South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.68 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.16 per cent and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.55 per cent. Overnight, Wall Street equities ended on a higher note.

Also read: Hindenburg report may not hurt Adani Enterprises FPO, says InGovern

Also read: Kotak cuts Adani Ports price target to Rs 860, upgrades rating to 'Buy'