Investors' wealth erodes by ₹3.44 lakh crore as markets crash

Investors' wealth dropped by ₹3.44 lakh crore on Tuesday as markets fell sharply with the BSE benchmark Sensex tumbling 1,390 points amid heightened uncertainty ahead of the anticipated rollout of the US reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

The BSE benchmark gauge tanked 1,390.41 points or 1.80% to settle at 76,024.51. During the day, the index plummeted 1,502.74 points or 1.94% to 75,912.18.

Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by ₹3,44,058.44 crore to ₹4,09,43,588.06 crore ($4.78 trillion).

"Benchmark indices started the new fiscal FY26 on a sour note after ending sharply lower on Tuesday ahead of US President Donald Trump's tariff announcement," Satish Chandra Aluri, Analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

Trump plans to roll out a set of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, which he says will be "Liberation Day" for the US.

"Indian equities faced sharp declines on the first trading session of FY26, with the Nifty tumbling 1.5% to close at 23,165, amid heightened concerns over US President Trump's reciprocal tariff plans, which take effect from April 2nd," Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Titan, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were among the biggest laggards.

Among gainers, IndusInd Bank jumped over 5% while Zomato ended marginally higher.

The BSE midcap gauge tanked 1.04% while the smallcap index went up marginally by 0.07%.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty slumped the most by 3.05%, followed by consumer durables (2.51%), BSE Focused IT (2.42%), IT (2.24%), financial services (1.78%), teck (1.73%) and bankex (1.50%).

BSE telecommunication and oil & gas were the gainers.