Indian stock market remains below $1-trillion mark

Amid sustained weakness across categories, the Indian stock market remained below the trillion-dollar mark for the third consecutive day today, as the total valuation of all listed companies slipped further to $944 billion.

Besides, the stock market also remained below the Rs 60 lakh crore mark in terms of total valuation of all listed companies for the second straight day.

The market's dollar valuation dropped further to $944 billion (Rs 59,68,994.64 crore). The rupee today closed at 63.25, down 12 paise over yesterday after hitting a fresh low of 64.13 in intra-day session.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share barometer settled the day at 18,246.04, a fall of 61.48 points or 0.34 per cent. The index has lost 1,121 points in three successive trading sessions.

"The Indian equity market is passing through an extremely volatile phase, where the broader trend is down. Clearly the selling pressure in the market is due to weak macros, weaker outlook on macros, and sharp rise in USD INR," said Milan Bavishi, Head Research, Inventure Growth and Securities.

Indian stock market's valuation had moved out of trillion-dollar league on August 6, but regained that level on August 8. However, continuing weakness in rupee and stocks once again pushed it out of this elite global league last week on August 16.

India had first entered the trillion-dollar club in June 2007, but moved out in September 2008, amid the global slowdown. It again got back into the elite league in May 2009 and had largely remained there since then, except for some brief periods including once in 2012. The rupee weakness has been a key force behind the dollar-valuation plunge in the recent months.

Since the beginning of the current fiscal in April 2013, though the rupee valuation of Indian stock market has fallen by 6.55 per cent, its dollar valuation has plunged 22 per cent. The rupee has depreciated by over 16 per cent during this period.

With India out of this league, only about a dozen stock markets across the world now enjoy a trillion-dollar status. These include the US, UK, Japan, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia and South Korea.