Investors become poorer by Rs 5.49 lakh cr

Investors' wealth plummeted by Rs 5.49 lakh crore on Friday as markets faced a massive correction tracking a weak trend in global peers and fresh foreign fund outflows.

Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,017.23 points or 1.24 per cent to settle at 81,183.93.

During the day, it plunged 1,219.23 points or 1.48 per cent to 80,981.93.

The BSE benchmark had hit its all-time high of 82,725.28 on Monday.

Following the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slumped by Rs 549,925.16 crore to Rs 460,18,976.09 crore ($5.48 trillion).

"Markets witnessed intense profit-booking after the recent upsurge and key benchmark indices crumbled on fears a subdued US economic data could push Fed chairman to postpone rate cut decision.

"Investors trimmed their bullish bets ahead of the US jobs report, as any uptick in the numbers could prompt the Fed to maintain the status quo on interest rates," Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, State Bank of India tanked over 4 per cent.

ICICI Bank, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, ITC, Axis Bank and Adani Ports were the major laggards.

Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel and Hindustan Unilever were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 688.69 crore on Thursday after days of remaining buyers, according to exchange data.

"Domestic equities experienced one of its most significant single-day declines in the past month, driven by concerns over a potential slowdown in the US labour market.

"Investors turned cautious ahead of the US nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate data to be released late today, which will offer insights into the magnitude of the rate cut in the upcoming US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting," Siddhartha Khemka, head - research, wealth management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.36 per cent higher to $72.95 a barrel.