Investors lose Rs 6 trillion within minutes of opening

MUMBAI: Investors on Tuesday lost over Rs 6 trillion within minutes of opening of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which was immediately suspended for an hour after the 30-share barometer index, Sensex, hit the circuit limit of 10 per cent.

This loss of Rs 6,54,887.85 crore comes on top of over Rs 11 trillion loss suffered by investors on the Dalal Street in the last six days.

"Small investors should stay away from the markets as of now. Let the market normalise and the volatility reduce," domestic brokerage firm SMC Global Vice President Rajesh Jain said.
 
"Better to out when in doubt" he said, adding that there is too much of panic in the markets and it is better to stay away from it.

The Sensex lost 5,251.15 points in last seven trading sessions including today's early morning trade till suspension, while investors' wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market capitalisation of all the listed companies, has declined by a whopping Rs 18,40,173.31 crore.

As per information available on the Bombay Stock Exchange website, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 59,53,525.87 crore at the end of yesterday's trading against Rs 71,38,810 crore before bourses began business last week on January 14.

The 30-share barometer tumbled 2,029.05 points to 15,576.30 within minutes of start of trading. The barometer index on Monday lost 1,408 to 17,605.35 points on concerns regarding the US economy going into recession.