Stock Market Carnage Wipes Out ₹20.16 Lakh Crore Investor Wealth Amid Global Selloff Fears
New Delhi, April 7: In a dramatic start to the trading week, Indian equity markets witnessed a massive bloodbath on Monday morning, eroding investor wealth by a staggering ₹20.16 lakh crore within hours. The benchmark BSE Sensex plunged 3,939.68 points, or 5.22%, to touch 71,425.01 amid a global meltdown triggered by intensifying fears of a trade war and economic slowdown.
All 30 stocks in the Sensex pack were deep in the red, with frontline companies like Tata Steel and Tata Motors crashing over 10% each. Heavyweights such as Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Adani Ports, Infosys, TCS, Reliance Industries, and Mahindra & Mahindra also suffered sharp losses, contributing significantly to the overall market downturn.
The total market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies nosedived to ₹3,83,18,592.93 crore (approximately USD 4.50 trillion), down by ₹20,16,293.53 crore from the previous session, reflecting the widespread panic across sectors and investor categories.
This steep fall comes in the wake of a global equity rout. Asian markets mirrored the chaos with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng nosediving over 11%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunging 7%, China’s Shanghai Composite falling nearly 7%, and South Korea’s Kospi slipping over 5%. US markets also ended last week on a disastrous note, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones Industrial Average falling nearly 6% each on Friday.
Commenting on the ongoing turbulence, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Markets across the globe are experiencing intense volatility due to unprecedented uncertainty. With no clear direction on how the trade tensions, especially those triggered by the US tariff policies, will unfold, the best course for investors right now is to remain cautious and adopt a wait-and-watch approach.”
Brent crude prices also reflected the shaky global sentiment, falling 2.76% to USD 63.77 per barrel.
On the domestic front, the BSE smallcap and midcap indices fared worse than the frontline benchmarks, plunging 6.62% and 5.01% respectively. Sectorally, all indices were trading in deep negative territory, with metals leading the collapse, diving nearly 8%, followed by industrials (6.39%), commodities (6.14%), IT (5.71%), consumer discretionary (5.42%) and technology (4.84%).
The massive sell-off has sent shockwaves through Dalal Street, with analysts urging retail investors to brace for further volatility and exercise extreme caution in the coming sessions.
