File Picture Courtesy : Financial Expreess
It was a nightmarish day as the Markets continued to bleed as the benchmark BSE Sensex opened 1,250 points lower at 33,506 while the NSE Nifty stayed below the 10,300-mark. Both Sensex and Nifty tanked over 3 per cent in the opening trade in line with deep losses in world markets.
According to various media reports coming in, the Sensex remained volatile after witnessing a steep fall in morning trade, however, Nifty moved above the 10,300-level. Following the downfall, the total market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE listed companies eroded by Rs 4,94,766 crore to Rs 1,43,00,981 crore.
As of 1.16 pm, the Street had recovered slightly with small caps firming up a little. The BSE index was trading 942 points below on 33,825 while Nifty was inching back towards 10,400-mark.
A sell-off in global markets further hit sentiments on domestic bourses on Monday which are already reeling under budget woes, pulling the Sensex down by nearly 310 points to a three-week low and the Nifty by 94 points on heavy selling, mainly in banking, capital goods, and IT counters.
Since February 1, the day Union Budget 2018-19 was presented, the 30-share Sensex has plummeted by over 1,208 points in three sessions and the Nifty has lost 361 points during the three-day period.
Commenting on the markets’ poor show, Finance and Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that the government will look into what it can do after a slump in local market reflecting global sell off. When asked if the government will scrap or review the long term capital gains (LTCG) tax which was introduced last week in the federal budget, Adhia said the local markets are mimicking global weakness, “but the government will look into what it can do”.
Investors also turned cautious ahead of the RBI policy meet as they feel that repo rate might be increased amid inflation concerns.
“Selling continued in the market as concern over bond yield and weak global market impacted the sentiment. Upcoming RBI monetary policy will be a key trigger for the market, the outcome of which is expected to be status quo, but any commentary over government’s fiscal policy and concern over rising yield will add volatility…,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said
