Investors' wealth tumbles Rs 18.74 lakh crore in five trading sessions

New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) Equity investors have become poorer by more than Rs 18.74 lakh crore as the market continued to remain bearish for the fifth session on the trot on Thursday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,158.08 points or 2.14 per cent to end below the 53,000-level at 52,930.31 points on Thursday.

Markets have been falling for five straight sessions and the BSE benchmark has tumbled 2,771.92 points or 4.97 per cent during this period.

A weak trend in equities have eroded Rs 18,74,689.98 crore from the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms in five days. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms is now at Rs 2,40,90,199.39 crore.

"Markets continued to remain under pressure in sync with global markets slump, as worries of more interest rate hikes coupled with sluggish economic growth going ahead weighed on sentiment. The ongoing conflict and lockdowns in China due to virus spread is promoting investors to shun equities," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

Among the Sensex firms, IndusInd Bank declined the most by 5.82 per cent on Thursday, followed by Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Titan and L&T.

Only Wipro ended higher from the 30-share BSE benchmark pack.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge tanked 2.24 per cent and smallcap declined 1.96 per cent.

All BSE sectoral indices ended lower, with power falling 4.11 per cent, followed by utilities (3.90 per cent), metal (3.75 per cent), bank (3.14 per cent), finance (3.14 per cent) and telecom (2.81 per cent).

"Inflation continues to be a major concern for the markets. Weakening economic growth outlook, prolonged Russia-Ukraine War, volatility in commodity prices, continued FIIs selling and rising bond yields have dented investors' sentiments.

"Volatility was also seen in the market on account of weekly expiry and domestic retail inflation data which is due to release late on Thursday," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.