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Investors' wealth tumbled by Rs 9 lakh crore on Friday, in tandem with a sharp decline in the domestic equity market, where the benchmark Sensex plunged 1,414 points following a bearish trend in global equities.
Fresh tariff threats that ignited global trade war fears and relentless foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiment, analysts said.
The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge tumbled 1,414.33 points or 1.90 per cent to settle at 73,198.10.
During the day, it cracked 1,471.16 points or 1.97 per cent to 73,141.27.
Following the sharp decline in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 9,08,798.67 crore to Rs 3,84,01,411.86 crore ($4.39 trillion).
Falling for the eighth straight day, the NSE Nifty slumped 420.35 points or 1.86 per cent to 22,124.70.
From its record peak of 85,978.25 hit on September 27 last year, the BSE benchmark index is down 12,780.15 points or 14.86 per cent.
The Nifty dropped 4,152.65 points or 15.80 per cent from its lifetime high of 26,277.35 hit on September 27, 2024.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by a whopping Rs 93.91 lakh crore from last year September's record high of Rs 4,77,93,022.68 crore.
"Domestic investors went into a panic mode and offloaded equities at will, as weak global market cues sparked a major sell-off causing benchmark indices to crash nearly 2 per cent.
"There is a lot of discomfort amongst the investors over Trump announcing imposition of import levies on several nations.
"Also concerns over slowing economic growth, earnings coming in below expectations, and lingering foreign investors selling have been driving bearish trends at regular intervals," Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra slumped over 6 per cent followed by IndusInd Bank which tanked more than 5 per cent.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Tata Motors, Titan, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services and Maruti were also among the major laggards.
HDFC Bank emerged as the only gainer from the pack.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with deep cuts. European markets were trading mostly lower. US markets ended sharply lower on Thursday.
"US President Donald Trump's announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, effective March 4, along with additional proposed tariffs on China, intensified fears of escalating trade tensions.
"This marked the fifth consecutive month of losses for the Nifty-50, the longest losing streak in nearly three decades, erasing approximately $1 trillion in investor wealth since September," Ameya Ranadive, Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox, said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 556.56 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
"Benchmark indices ended sharply lower on Friday on rising trade war worries after Trump announced fresh tariffs on China.
"Nifty posted worst monthly sliding streak of 5 months, longest since 1996.
"Broader mid and smallcaps continued to fall with sharp losses again on Friday as valuations continued to derate," Satish Chandra Aluri, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
After opening sharply lower following overnight sell-off in Wall Street, markets extended the declines throughout the session as bearish sentiment gripped the markets, Aluri added.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.40 per cent to $73 a barrel.