Indian Markets Plunge: IT Sector Bloodbath Erases ₹3.38 Lakh Crore in Investor Wealth
New Delhi, 24 February (H.S.): Domestic bourses witnessed a sharp decline on Tuesday, driven by weak global cues, a significant downturn in the IT sector, rupee depreciation, and rising crude oil prices. The Sensex and Nifty both suffered substantial losses, erasing ₹3.38 lakh crore from investor wealth.
The Sensex, which is a benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), closed at 82,225.92, down by 1,068.74 points or 1.28%. The Nifty, the key index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), closed at 25,424.65, down by 288.35 points or 1.12%.
The market opened weak and continued to plunge due to broad selling pressure. However, midday buying activity managed to stem the intraday lows. At its lowest point, the Sensex was down by 1,359.93 points to 81,934.73, and the Nifty was down by 385.40 points to 25,327.60.
The IT sector was the worst hit, plunging by 4.74%. The real estate sector also saw a decline of more than 2%. Other sectors such as banking, auto, consumer durables, and technology also closed in the red. However, sectors like public sector enterprises (PSE), oil and gas, metals, healthcare, FMCG, and capital goods managed to close in the green.
Midcap and Smallcap indices also faced losses, with the BSE Midcap index down by 0.30% and the BSE Smallcap index down by 0.55%.
The BSE market capitalization shrank to ₹465.81 lakh crore from ₹469.19 lakh crore on Monday. On the BSE, there were 1,422 advancers, 2,802 decliners, and 143 flat stocks, with a total of 4,367 active stocks. On the NSE, 835 stocks advanced, 2,102 declined, and a total of 2,937 stocks were active.
Among the top gainers on the Sensex, NTPC led the pack with a gain of 1.94%, followed by Coal India at 1.16%, JSW Steel at 1.13%, Hindalco at 0.73%, and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) at 0.56%.
On the other hand, the top losers included Tech Mahindra, which fell by 6.63%, HCL Tech by 6.10%, Eternal by 5.22%, Infosys by 3.92%, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) by 3.83%.
The market's performance reflects the ongoing concerns about the global economic environment and the specific challenges faced by the Indian IT sector. Investors are closely watching for any signs of recovery or further developments that could impact the market sentiment.
Despite the downturn, some analysts believe that the market may stabilize in the coming days if there are positive economic indicators or policy measures that boost investor confidence.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
