The worst intra-day fall for the Indian stock market in two months wiped off nearly 9.78 lakh crore from investors’ wealth on Thursday, 3 October. On Thursday, the market capitalisation of all companies listed on the BSE tumbled to ₹4,65.07 lakh crore from ₹4,74.86 lakh crore on Tuesday.
During the day, the overall market cap had slipped as much as ₹10.5 lakh crore amid an over 2 per cent decline in the Indian benchmark indices.
With tensions in the Middle East rising and the dispute between Iran and Israel intensifying, the major market indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, fell precipitously today.
The Nifty 50 finished at 25,250, down 547 points or 2.12 percent, while the Sensex closed at 82,497, down 1,769 points or 2.10 percent. Both indices saw a fall for the fourth day in a row, losing more than 3.5% apiece.
In addition to geopolitical worries, other elements that have contributed to the current stock market meltdown include an increase in the price of crude oil, modifications made by market regulator SEBI to the F&O segment’s regulations, and withdrawals by foreign institutional investors.
Crude oil prices spiked after Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles at Israel. From $71 per barrel on Monday, the price of Brent crude surged to $75 per barrel. There is growing speculation that Israel would attack Iran’s main oil reserves in retaliation, which would drive up oil prices even more.
This is not good news for India, which gets 80% of its old needs from imports. India’s import bill could climb with any significant increase in oil prices.