Investors lose nearly Rs 3 lakh crore as Sensex crashes over 1,000 points, Nifty slips below 25,900 points

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped over 1,000 points, while the Nifty50 tumbled almost 300 points during intraday trading.

As of 11:50 am, the Sensex had plunged 1,018.81 points to 84,553.04, and the Nifty50 had declined by 290.20 points, settling at 25,888.75.

This steep fall led to a market capitalisation loss of nearly Rs 3 lakh crore across all BSE-listed companies, fueled by increased volatility and widespread profit-booking activity, according to reports.

Key contributors to the decline in both the Sensex and Nifty were the underperformance of information technology and financial stocks, as well as a significant drop in Reliance Industries Limited.

Major players like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank together were responsible for the largest declines in the Sensex.

Additional losses came from stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), State Bank of India (SBI), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Tata Motors.

On the sectoral front, indices such as Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, IT, Media, Realty, Healthcare, and Oil & Gas experienced declines of up to 1.6 percent.

However, Nifty Metal bucked the trend, rising 1.5 percent, benefiting from China’s recently announced measures to stimulate its slowing economy.

Meanwhile, the India VIX, known as the fear gauge, surged 7 percent, reflecting growing investor anxiety over market valuations and widespread profit-booking.

Market analysts highlighted a shift in focus among foreign institutional investors (FIIs) toward Chinese markets, driven by the Hang Seng index's impressive 18 percent rise in September.

This rally is largely due to renewed confidence in the Chinese economy following monetary and fiscal stimulus measures from the Chinese government.

According to stock market experts, this trend could lead to a period of consolidation in the Indian market, and in addition, rising geopolitical tensions, particularly from the intensifying Israeli strikes in Lebanon, have added further uncertainty to global markets.

Despite relative stability in oil prices due to potential supply increases, the ongoing Middle East conflict has raised concerns over energy supply.

Brent crude futures increased by 0.71 percent, while US West Texas Intermediate rose by 0.63 percent, further dampening market sentiment as India heavily relies on oil imports.

Investors are also cautious ahead of important US economic data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech this week.

Key data points, including job openings and private hiring numbers, will provide important signals regarding future monetary policy decisions.

The week will conclude with the US payroll report, which could heavily influence the Federal Reserve's stance on an anticipated interest rate cut in November.

On Sept. 27, FIIs were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,209 crore.

However, total inflows for September still exceeded Rs 57,000 crore.

Market experts said that while FIIs might continue selling in India and reallocating funds to more lucrative markets, domestic liquidity is strong enough to cushion the Indian market from any severe impact.