Market in the red again: 146 stocks hit 52-week lows; investors lose ₹7.35 lakh cr this week

As per BSE data, the market cap of equity firms dropped by ₹2,39,863.23 crore during Thursday trading to come to ₹2,80,55,535.22 crore. On the previous day, the valuation was around ₹2,82,95,398.45 crore. In past 2 days, the market has lost ₹6,84,422.87 in market cap.

The loss in market cap is even more significant with respect to the standing on Monday, the market cap stood at ₹2,87,90,710.06 on first day of the week. Within 4 days it went down by ₹7,35,174.84 crore.

In addition on Thursday, one stock was registered trading in the Lower circuit, meaning, no buyer was available for the stock even after the stock fell to its lowest price during the trading session. On contrary 10 stocks were trading in the Upper circuit.

Among the 146 stocks registering a 52-week low there were some big names including, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Galaxy Surfactants Ltd, Polyplex Corporation Ltd, Lux Industries Ltd and Indigo Paints Ltd.

Tata Group-backed telecom services provider Tata Teleservices closed at its 5% lower circuit at ₹87.25 apiece on Thursday. This level is also the company’s new 52-week low. Meanwhile, other mentioned stocks closed their near fresh 52-week lows. 

After the day’s session, Sensex closed at 60,826.22 registering a loss of -241.02 (-0.39%) points. In total, 3,652 stocks were traded during the session with declines going as high as 2,792 against 765 advances. 95 stocks remained unchanged.

Dr Joseph Thomas, Head of Research, Emkay Wealth Management went on to explain the reason behind the fall, “The equity market traded lower again mainly on account of the overarching influence of negative factors and news from overseas.”

Dr Thomas elaborated on the overseas factors saying, “Some of the recent macro numbers show the US economy still staying in relatively good health, but the news from China and Japan are not encouraging due to the larger number of covid cases reported from several countries , and the impact of the same on global growth and economic activity in the coming months. This factor may be on the mind of the markets, as to how severe the wave of infections would be and how it will be countered.”

Reflecting on the tone or market he went on to say, “Stocks across market caps and throughout all sectors traded lower with metals, auto and PSU banks suffering the worst fall. Since countries like India and those in Europe have a much better level of preparedness, the impact may not be too hard this time around, and activity could remain closer to normal.”