Investor wealth of BSE-listed firms, measured by the market capitalisation, today slipped below the crucial Rs 100-lakh crore mark as the benchmark Sensex lost 261 points.
At the close of today's trading session, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 99,12,226 crore.
Continued capital outflows by foreign investors over retrospective tax worries, muted quarterly earnings so far and approaching derivatives expiry on Thursday played spoilsport as the benchmark Sensex fell 260.95 points to settle at 27,176.99.
"Markets upheld its prevailing negative bias and lost nearly a per cent in the end. In absence of positive triggers, the bias was subdued from the beginning. Besides, cautiousness at the start of F&O expiry week and not-so-encouraging earnings from corporates also weighed on the sentiment," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities Limited.
The 30-Sensex companies, which are among the biggest in the country, now account for nearly 50 per cent or about Rs 44 lakh crore of total investor wealth.
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 actively traded companies, 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.
The total market cap has more than doubled in the last five years from Rs 50 lakh crore in 2009 while it has grown 10 times ever since it scaled the Rs 10 lakh crore summit in 2003.
Among the 30-Sensex components, 23 ended in the negative zone while HDFC Bank ended flat.
Maruti Suzuki, Sesa Sterlite, Wipro, Coal India, Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services were the major gainers.
Sector-wise, the BSE realty index suffered the most by losing 3.96 per cent, followed by healthcare, oil & gas, consumer durables, FMCG and bankex.
On BSE, 2,063 stocks declined while 664 advanced and 87 remained unchanged.
