Sensex dives over 550 points: Rs 3.8L cr investor wealth lost; Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission dive up to 20%

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in late deals on Monday, extending their losses amid a volatile session. The BSE Sensex slumped over 550 points while the NSE barometer Nifty hit the sub-17,450 level. At 2:02 pm, the 30-pack Sensex was down 575 points or 0.97 per cent at 58,756. The NSE benchmark was down 180 points or 1.02 per cent at 17,425. Such was the fall in the domestic indices that nearly Rs 3.83 lakh crore of BSE market capitalisation (m-cap) was wiped out. The domestic indices slipped today, dragged by banks, financials, consumer goods, metal and energy stocks.

However, gains in technology and consumer durables capped some losses. 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 claims as baseless. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that huge volatility is in store in Adani stocks today. "Nifty Bank declined on concerns of the Adani crisis impacting the lenders. The correction in high-quality private sector banks is a buying opportunity. Investors may wait for the dust to settle," he added.

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

Rs 3.83 lakh crore investor wealth lost

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, fell Rs 3.83 lakh crore to Rs 265.83 lakh crore compared with a valuation of Rs 269.66 lakh crore recorded in the previous session. In three straight sessions, investors have lost around Rs 14.56 lakh crore. Frontline stocks such as HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), ICICI Bank, L&T and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) contributed to the fall today.

181 stocks hit 52-week lows on BSE

As many as 181 stocks hit their 52-week lows today. BSE stocks such as Adani Green, Adani Transmission, Brightcom Group, Biocon, Century Textiles, Clean Science and Dixon Technologies and 174 other stocks hit their respective one-year low levels. That said, 80 stocks touched their one-year high levels today.

2,221 stocks in the red

Out of 3,719 stocks, 2,221 stocks were seen declining. Only 1,322 stocks were advancing, while 176 stocks remained unchanged.

Adjia Technologies, Chandra Bhagat Pharma down up to 10%

Shares of Adjia Technologies, Chandra Bhagat Pharma, Siyaram Silk Mills, Innovators Facade Systems, Diggi Multitrade and Anuroop Packaging fell up to 10 per cent in late deals today.

Energy, banks & financials top drags

For Sensex, the major culprits that dragged the index lower were HDFC duo, ICICI Bank, HUL, L&T, Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid and Tata Steel. HDFC twins, ICICI and HUL alone contributed negatively to around a 250-point decline.

On NSE, 13 out of the 15 sub-indices were down. Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services fell sharply. However, Nifty IT and Nifty Consumer Durables climbed.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 5,977.86 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Friday, while domestic investors bought about Rs 4,252.33 crore worth of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly seen trading mixed. South Korea's Kospi index was down 1.35 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 2.73 per cent; while Japan's Nikkei index moved 0.16 per cent higher and Shanghai Composite index rose 0.14 per cent. Wall Street equities ended positively on Friday. Further, US stock futures indicated a gap-down start for Wall Street today.

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