Indian equity benchmarks ended in deep red on Wednesday amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia, and the consequent volatility in crude oil prices.
The Sensex plunged 1,342.27 points or 1.72 per cent to settle at 76,863.71, while the Nifty fell 394.75 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at 23,866.85.
The bloodbath at Dalal Street was also attributed to continued foreign fund outflows, and sell-off in bank stocks.
The main laggards included Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Trent, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
Sun Pharma and NTPC were among the gainers.
Burdened by crude price rise, rupee falls too
The rupee fell 16 paise to close at 92.01 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, burdened by a substantial increase in the price of crude oil globally and a stronger US currency, as the conflict in West Asia continued.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 5.44 per cent at $92.58 per barrel in futures trade.
Investors’ wealth dips by Rs 5.14 lakh crore
Investors’ wealth eroded by Rs 5.14 lakh crore on Wednesday as a result of the bloodbath.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies faced an erosion of Rs 5,14,063.2 crore to Rs 4,41,90,196.39 crore ($ 4.81 trillion).
