Investors lose Rs 160k cr as market nosedives

Investors in the Indian stock market saw their wealth erode by Rs 1.6 lakh crore today as Sensex plummetted by about 432 points over poor industrial growth data and negative global cues.

Total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all listed companies in the country, dropped to Rs 74.69 lakh crore at the end of today's session. It stood at about Rs 73 lakh crore on Thursday, the previous trading day.

The 30-share index Sensex declined by 432.20 points, or 2.1 per cent, to 20,156.89 today. This is the steepest decline registered by the Sensex since a 467-point fall on May 19, 2010.

Marketmen attributed today's debacle to weak cues from Europe and China, as well as poor domestic industrial production numbers for the month of September.

"This is a knee-jerk reaction to the negative news flow from the global markets. Dalal Steet was already in a bearish mood, which became worse after the IIP numbers almost halved to 4.4 per cent for the month of September as against the year-ago period," SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

The descent of the index was led by blue-chips Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI and DLF.

At the close of today's trade, market capitalisation of the country's most valued firm, Reliance Industries, stood at Rs 3.47 lakh crore, while state-run ONGC and software major TCS's valuations were Rs 2.79 lakh crore and Rs 2.06 lakh crore, respectively.