Equity investors become poorer by Rs 7.37 lakh cr during morning trade as mkts tumble

New Delhi: Investors' wealth eroded by Rs 7.37 lakh crore on Monday morning, as the equity markets fell sharply with the BSE Sensex tumbling 1,192 points.

Markets were dragged down by Reliance Industries and unabated selling by foreign investors. Investors also turned cautious ahead of the US presidential elections and Federal Reserve interest rate decision scheduled to be announced later this week.

The BSE benchmark tanked 1,192 points to 78,532.12 during the morning trade.

In-line with a weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 7,37,744.54 crore to Rs 4,40,72,863.01 crore (USD 5.24 trillion).

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Titan and Tata Steel were among the major laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 211.93 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around USD 11.2 billion) from the Indian stock market in October, making it the worst-ever month in terms of outflows, triggered by the elevated valuation of domestic equities and attractive valuations of Chinese stocks.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading higher.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.56 per cent to USD 74.24 a barrel.

Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE conducted a one-hour special 'Muhurat Trading' session on the occasion of Diwali on November 1, marking the start of the new Samvat 2081.

The BSE benchmark climbed 335.06 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 79,724.12 in the special Muhurat trading session on Friday. The Nifty advanced 99 points or 0.41 per cent to 24,304.35.