Sensex, Nifty tumble as investors lose over Rs 2.1 lakh crore

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in Tuesday's trade, dragged by banks, financials, automobile, technology and energy stocks. The BSE Sensex slumped over 850 points while the NSE barometer Nifty hit the sub-24,750 level. Such was the fall in the domestic indices that more than Rs 2.1 lakh crore of BSE market capitalisation (m-cap) was wiped out. The broader indices, however, were trading on a mixed note with the Nifty Mid-Cap edging 0.10 per cent lower and Nifty Small-Cap up 0.23 per cent.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, expects domestic benchmarks to consolidate at current levels for the short term. "Since mutual funds are sitting on sizeable cash, any dips will be bought into and high valuations will trigger selling on rallies. A sustained rally will happen only when leading indicators suggest a revival in earnings growth. That is some time away," he stated.

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

Rs 2.1 lakh crore investor wealth lost

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, fell Rs 2.11 lakh crore to Rs 442.68 lakh crore compared with a valuation of Rs 444.79 lakh crore recorded in the previous session. Frontline stocks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Tata Consultancy Services, M&M, ITC and UltraTech Cement contributed to the fall today.

22 stocks hit 52-week lows on BSE

As many as 22 stocks hit their 52-week lows today. BSE stocks such as Key Corporation, Mach Conferences And Events and Neeraj Paper Marketing their respective one-year low levels. That said, 154 stocks touched their one-year high levels today.

1,812 stocks in the red

Out of 3,771 stocks, 1,812 stocks were seen declining. Only 1,772 stocks were advancing, while 187 stocks remained unchanged.

Banks, financials & auto among top drags

For Sensex, the major culprits that dragged the index lower were ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries Ltd, Infosys, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Tata Consultancy Services, M&M, ITC, UltraTech Cement and NTPC.

On NSE, 14 out of 18 sub-indices were down. Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Auto, Nifty IT and Nifty Oil & Gas fell sharply.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 135.98 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 1,745.72 crore worth of equity, according to stock exchange data.

On the global front, most Asian markets were last seen trading lower. South Korea's Kospi index was down 0.54 per cent and Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.24 per cent.