Stock market investor left poorer by Rs 3.28 lakh crore as Sensex, Nifty halt gaining spree

Sensex and Nifty erased all gains made since October 6 as they tanked over 2% lower on Thursday. Sensex dived 1,066 points or 2,61% while Nifty gave up the 11,700 mark, which investors termed as crucial. With this the 10-day gaining streak on the benchmark indices has come to screeching halt. On Sensex, only Asian paints shares were up with gains while the rest of the 29 stocks ended the day with losses. The volatility index jumped over 9% to sit above 22 levels. Technically, support for Nifty was placed in the range of 11,700-11,800 which has now been breached.

Investor’s left poorer: With the massive 1,066 point fall registered by Sensex today, investors were left poorer by Rs 3.28 lakh crore. The market capitalization of all BSE listed firms stood at Rs 160.5 lakh crore at the end of trading on Wednesday, the same plummeted to Rs 157.2 lakh crore on stock market closing today. 

IT and banking stocks bleed: Marquee baking names and IT stocks were aiding the fall in stock markets today. This is despite the favourable commentary coming in from the Supreme Court on the loan moratorium case and the healthy profits reported by IT firms. Nifty Bank was down 3.3% along with Nifty Private Bank. Nifty IT was down 2.8%.

Broader markets fall less: Nifty midcap 50 index was down 2.14% and Nifty smallcap 50 slipped 2% while the benchmark Nifty was down 2.43%. The difference was glaring among BSE midcap, smallcap indices and Sensex. BSE Midcap was down 1.75% and BSE Smallcap slipped 1.45% while Sensex moved 2.6% lower. 

Global peers: Stock markets in the US had recorded losses over the last two days while European markets moved lower today. Among major Asian markets, Hang Seng was down over 2%. “Weakness in the European markets led to a fresh bout of selling in our markets post 1300 Hrs. European stocks slumped Thursday, with investors concerned about the impact of a second wave of coronavirus on the economy without any imminent stimulus to cushion the blow,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Nifty to find support at: Having given up the 11,700 mark, analysts believe that Nifty will now find support at 11,600 levels. While some say that 11,500 is the medium term support. “The break of 11800 proved to be quite severe in intensity as the markets dropped 150 points from that level. Traders are advised to maintain caution and not jump into long or short trades immediately. The resistance on the upside is at 12000 and the support for the medium term is at 11500,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.