Markets extend fall for second straight day, more than ₹ 2.6 Lakh Cr m-cap wiped out

Indian equity markets tanked for the second straight day today. Benchmark Indices Sensex and Nifty fell over 1% due to heavy selling in banking and oil stocks in tandem with weak global trends ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.

BSE Sensex tumbled 796 points or 1.18% to settle at 66,800.84. During the day, it tanked as much as 868.7 points or 1.28% to 66,728.14. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty declined 231.90 points or 1.15% to end below the 20,000 mark at 19,901.40. 

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The Broader market also came under pressure as BSE midcap and smallcap indices turned red after a flat opening. 

This fall wiped out more than ₹ 2.6 lakh crore of market capitalisation. Investors' wealth fell 3,20,51,859 at the time of market closing. The BSE m-cap was at Rs 323.01 lakh crore during the previous trading session. 

19 BSE stocks in total hit 52-week low, while 198 stocks hit 52-week high at the time of closing. Out of the 3,803 stocks that were traded on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 2,207 stocks declined while 1,476 stocks rose. 

Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank emerged as the biggest loser, falling 4%. JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Maruti, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro were the other major laggards.

Power Grid, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, NTPC, ITC and Infosys were among the gainers.