Sensex dives over 700 points: Rs 2.6L cr investor wealth lost; Redington & Engineers India down up to 6%

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in afternoon deals on Wednesday, dragged by broad sectoral slide. The BSE Sensex slumped over 700 points while the NSE barometer Nifty hit the sub-19,550 level. At 12:26 pm, the 30-pack Sensex was down 702 points or 1.04 per cent at 65,749. The NSE benchmark was down 194 points or 0.98 per cent at 19,540. Such was the fall in the domestic indices that around Rs 2.61 lakh crore of BSE market capitalisation (m-cap) was wiped out.

Weak economic data from the United States, euro zone and China triggered caution and weighed on risk sentiment. Fitch's downgrade of US long-term debt rating on fiscal concerns further weighed on investor sentiment.

Here's a look at today's market fall in numbers:

Rs 2.61 lakh crore investor wealth lost

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, fell Rs 1.25 lakh crore to Rs 304.19 lakh crore compared with a valuation of Rs 306.80 lakh crore recorded in the previous session. Frontline stocks such as Reliance Industries, HDFC HDFC Bank), ICICI Bank, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys and L&T contributed to the fall today.

22 stocks hit 52-week lows on BSE

As many as 22 stocks hit their 52-week lows today. BSE stocks such as Campus, BankETF and Nimbus Projects hit their respective one-year low levels. That said, 185 stocks touched their one-year high levels today.

1,851 stocks in the red

Out of 3,626 stocks, 2,088 stocks were seen declining. Only 1,363 stocks were advancing, while 175 stocks remained unchanged.

Redington & Engineers India down up to 6%

Shares of Redington, Engineers India, Llyods Metals and Energy, Aditya Birla Capital, Century Textiles and IIFL Finance fell up to 6.36 per cent in afternoon deals today.

Banks, financials, auto, metal and energy among top drags

For Sensex, the major culprits that dragged the index lower were Reliance, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC, Axis Bank, L&T, SBI, Kotak Bank, Infy, NTPC, Tata Motors and Tata Steel. RIL, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and ITC alone contributed negatively to around a 300-point decline.

On NSE, all 15 sub-indices were down. Nifty Bank, Nifty Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil & Gas fell sharply.

FII-DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 92.85 crore of Indian equities on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic investors purchased Rs 1,036 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

On the global front, Asian markets were last seen trading lower. Japan's Nikkei index fell 2.30 per cent, South Korea's Kospi index was down 1.90 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked 2.60 per cent and Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.89 per cent. Further, US stock futures indicated a negative start for Wall Street later in the day.

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