Equity investors' wealth falls by Rs 3.23 lakh cr in early trade

New Delhi: Investors' wealth fell by Rs 3.23 lakh crore in early trade on Monday in-line with the lacklustre trend in the equity market.

The BSE Sensex tanked 1,466.4 points or 2.49 per cent to 57,367.47 in morning trade.

Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 3,23,123.54 crore to Rs 2,73,72,988.06 crore.

From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance were trading sharply lower.

Hindustan Unilever, Maruti, Nestle and UltraTech Cement were the only gainers.

"Domestic equity markets are likely to retreat sharply in early trade Monday, as the entire Asian pack is trading in deep red after US Fed chairman Jerome Powell in his speech on Friday indicated that interest rates may continue to rise to keep inflation in check.

"Powell stated that failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain," Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In the broader market, both the BSE midcap and smallcap indices were trading over 1 per cent lower.

The Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the red in mid-session deals.

The US markets had ended significantly lower on Friday.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.86 per cent to 101.9 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 51.12 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.