Equity investors have seen their wealth evaporate by about Rs 3 lakh crore since the beginning of this year, as the recent volatile sessions weighed on the valuations of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The total market capitalisation of all listed stocks on the BSE currently stands at Rs 95.40 lakh crore, down Rs 2.95 lakh crore as compared to last year. Overall, the benchmark BSE Sensex is down 1,635.92 points or 5.94% so far this year, taking into account Thursday's closing of 25,863.50.
Investors' wealth rose by a massive Rs 28 lakh crore last year, with the valuations of all listed entities reaching 98.36 lakh crore. In 2014, the Sensex went up by 6,328.74 points or 30%, recording its highest yearly gains since 2009, PTI reported.
Markets have been trading weak for the past two quarters on the back of several factors such as Chinese economic slowdown, US Federal Reserve rate hike, and disappointing corporate earnings, among others.
The Sensex touched an all-time high of 30,024.74 on 4 March, 2015, amid growing optimism over reforms by the Modi government. But, the index gave up all the gains in the past few months and fell to a one-year low level of 24,833.54 on 8 September.
A sharp fall in the index was led by both domestic and external factors. A sudden yuan devaluation move by China to boost the country's exports saw the Sensex plunging by 1624.51 points or 5.94% on 24 August, posting its biggest intra-day fall in seven years.
Besides, the failure to pass key reforms bills such as Land Acquisition bill and Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill led to foreign investors offloading their holdings in the domestic stock markets.
