MARKET IN BEAR GRIP

The benchmark BSE Sensex today plunged by 351 points to fall below the 27,000-mark on heavy selling in realty and FMCG sectors as contraction in services sector for the first time in 13 months coupled with drought fears hit market sentiment. In last two sessions, the Sensex has lost 1,011.79 points. A day after RBI chief's comment over risk of inflationary worries due to deficient monsoon amid global uncertainties, bearish sentiment persisted on economic recovery concerns. "Several short-term concerns have overshadowed investor sentiments, which have led to the Indian stock market sliding for the second consecutive trading session. Thus, the probability of a rate cut in the next policy meet has becoming much slimmer," said Hitesh Agrawal, Head Research of Reliance Securities. Frantic unwinding was seen across-the-board with rate sensitive counters hitting hard along-with frontline FMCG stocks. Mid-cap and small-cap too saw large scale selling. The Sensex after remaining in positive zone briefly at the outset, slipped into the negative zone and dipped below the 27,000-mark to hit a low of 26,698.26. It settled 351.18 points or 1.29 per cent lower at 26,837.20. This is the lowest closing since May 7, when the index had closes at 26,599.11 points. The 50-scrip Nifty after breaching the key 8,100-mark intra-day to touch a low of 8,094.15 ended at 8,135.10, down 101.35 points or 1.23 per cent.

MARKET CAP SLIPS BELOW Rs.100 LAKH CRORES

Investor wealth of BSE-listed firms, as measured by market capitalisation, today slipped below the crucial Rs 100-lakh crore mark as the benchmark Sensex tumbled over 351 points.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed slipped to Rs 98,83,222 crore at the close of the trading session. BSE is among the world's 10 largest exchanges in terms of market value while it is the biggest globally for number of firms listed on its platform.It has over 4,200 companies listed, and over 2.7 crore investors trade on it.The total market valuation of all listed firms on the BSE had hit a record high of Rs 100 trillion in November 2014.Among the 30-Sensex stocks, 24 ended with losses led by Tata Power Company and ITC. At the BSE, 2,168 stocks declined, while 564 advanced. 76 stocks remained unchanged.