STC BUSINESS DESK
APRIL 07 (STC): Stock market witnessed bloodbath today as BSE Sensex and Nifty50 crashed in trade. Both stock market indices plunged 5% intraday before recovering partially.
BSE Sensex ended the day at 73,137.90, down 2,227 points (2.95%). Nifty50 ended at 22,161.60, down 743 points (3.24%).
This is the largest single-day decline in 10 months. The investors lost their wealth diminishing by Rs 14 lakh crore due to a substantial drop in benchmark indices.
The market value of companies listed on the BSE saw a considerable reduction of Rs 14,09,225.71 crore, settling at Rs 3,89,25,660.75 crore (USD 4.54 trillion) within a single trading session.
Amongst Sensex constituents, only Hindustan Unilever avoided losses. Tata Steel registered the steepest decline of 7.33 per cent, whilst Larsen & Toubro decreased by 5.78 per cent.
Significant losses were also recorded by Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank. Hindustan Unilever showed a slight increase.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said, “The market tumbled as the carnage over high US tariffs and the retaliation by other countries may kickstart a trade war. Sectors like IT and metals have underperformed relative to the broader market due to the risk of high inflation with slower growth that may result in a potential recession in the US. Though the overall impact on India may be limited when compared with other countries, investors are advised to play cautiously during this fray. Focus will be on pure-play domestic themes, where the rebound is likely to be fair when the dust settles.”
(Inputs from agencies)