Sensex slumps 638 points, investors lose over Rs 9 lakh crore

Mumbai: Indian frontline indices closed in the deep red on Monday as investors played cautious due to the Middle East conflict.

At closing, Sensex was down 638 points, or 0.78 per cent, at 81,050 and Nifty was down 218 points, or 0.87 per cent, at 24,795.

Due to the sharp fall, the market cap of all the companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) declined by Rs 9 lakh crore to Rs 452 lakh crore. The figure was at Rs 461 lakh crore in Friday's trading session.

In the Sensex pack, ITC, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, TCS, and Tech Mahindra were the top gainers. NTPC, SBI, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Reliance, JSW Steel, Nestle, L&T, HUL, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top losers.

Except IT index, almost all the indices closed in the red.

Auto, PSU Bank, fin service, pharma, FMCG, metal, realty, media, energy, infra, private bank and PSE were major losers.

Selling was driven by midcap and smallcap stocks. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was down 1,174 points, or 2.01 per cent, at 57,300 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was down 515 points, or 2.75 per cent, at 18,242.

According to market experts, the Indian markets have entered a consolidation phase with a high risk of underperforming to Asian peers. This phase is marked by significant corrections in the broader market due to premium valuations, they said. There is notable global arbitrage activity, with Chinese markets attracting substantial inflows driven by its attractive valuations and stimulus measures, they added.

Investors are reassessing their portfolio positions and FII outflows are exacerbated, the experts said, adding that amid escalating geopolitical tensions, the surging oil prices pose a further challenge to the domestic economy, in the short term.