Equity investors' wealth decline by ₹5 lakh crore as markets fall in volatile trade

Investors' wealth declined by Rs 5 lakh crore on Thursday as markets fell in a volatile session amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 411.97 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 80,334.81 as the benchmark index lost momentum in the afternoon session despite a firm beginning. The benchmark tanked 759.17 points or 0.94 per cent to hit a low of 79,987.61 in the pre-close trade.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 5,00,037.74 crore to Rs 4,18,50,596.04 crore (USD 4.93 trillion).

India on Thursday said it foiled Pakistan military's attempts to attack 15 places in northern and western India using missiles and drones, and destroyed a Pakistani air defence system in Lahore as tensions between the two sides mounted amid fears of a wider conflict.

The defence ministry said the Pakistani military attempted last night to target Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj.

These attempts were neutralised by the Integrated Counter Unmanned Aircraft System (Grid and Air Defence systems), it said.

The Pakistani attempt came after Indian armed forces early Wednesday carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan under 'Operation Sindoor'.

"Benchmark indices closed sharply lower on Thursday amid escalating tensions with the neighbouring country. Market traded in a narrow range till noon, before plunging lower on reports of further escalation in the tensions," Satish Chandra Aluri, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid and State Bank of India were among the laggards.

HCL Technologies, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, Tata Motors, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.

Historically, the domestic volatility is expected to neutralise as cross border issue de-escalates, he added.

The BSE midcap gauge dropped 1.90 per cent and smallcap index declined 1.05 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, realty tanked 2.60 per cent, oil & gas (1.98 per cent), auto (1.92 per cent), power (1.86 per cent), utilities (1.85 per cent), commodities (1.67 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.58 per cent) and services (1.57 per cent).

IT and BSE Focused IT were the only gainers.

As many as 2,548 stocks declined while 1,349 advanced and 135 remained unchanged on the BSE.