Stock Market Crashes in Just 150 Minutes, Investors Lose Rs 4.23 Lakh Crore

Tuesday turned out to be a turbulent day for investors as the stock market, which opened on a positive note, saw a sharp fall within just 150 minutes. After touching the day’s high, both Sensex and Nifty witnessed heavy selling pressure, erasing significant gains.

The Sensex, which had touched its intraday high of 84,986.66 at 9:35 am, slipped 759 points to 84,227.66. Similarly, the Nifty dropped 215.55 points from its peak to 25,826.15. At its highest point, the BSE market capitalization stood at ₹4,73,56,448.92 crore, but by 12:05 pm, it fell to ₹4,69,33,362.68 crore, resulting in a massive loss of ₹4,23,086.24 crore in investor wealth.

The steep fall came despite a strong start to the week, which was initially driven by improved sentiment due to easing US-China trade tensions and steady domestic income levels. By 1:35 pm, the Sensex was trading 136 points lower at 84,642.01, while the Nifty slipped to 25,940.30, down about 25 points. Among top gainers were Tata Steel, L&T, and Tata Motors, while Axis Bank, Trent, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and Bajaj Finserv were among the major losers, each falling over 1%.

Why the Market Fell
The decline was triggered by multiple factors:

• FII Selling: Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth ₹55.58 crore on Monday, weighing on domestic market sentiment.

• Profit Booking: Heavy profit-taking was seen in key sectors such as banking, financial services, FMCG, real estate, and IT.

• Rupee Weakness: The rupee depreciated by 21 paise to 88.40 against the US dollar, following strong demand for the dollar from importers and rising global crude oil prices.

• Increased Volatility: The India VIX index surged 5% to 12.50, signaling growing uncertainty among traders.

• Nifty Monthly Expiry: The expiry of Nifty derivative contracts added to the volatility, as traders squared off or rolled over positions.

• Crude Oil Rise: Brent crude in the international market traded slightly higher at $65.65 per barrel, up 0.05%.

Expert Outlook
According to Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, the Nifty failed to sustain above the 25,940–26,000 range on Monday. He noted that a breakout above 26,000 could trigger further bullish momentum, while a fall below 25,900 might weaken it. However, he believes the chances of a deeper correction towards 25,590–25,400 currently remain low.