At the time of writing this copy, Sensex was down 966.85 points, or 1.61%, at 59,238.21 and Nifty was at 17,584.10, down 307.85 points, or -1.72%.
Here are the key reasons for the steep fall in markets:
Pre-Budget Jitters
The market usually trades lower ahead of the Budget Day as investors are jittery in anticipation of the Budget policies.
According to a report by Samco Securities, markets do not perform well ahead of the Budget due to fear and anxiety among investors but after the Budget Day Nifty on an average climbs up.
Adani stocks hammered
Adani group's all seven stocks fell today for the second straight day after the release of the Hindenburg Research report that alleged a ‘fraud’. Seven of Adani companies lost ₹2.83 lakh crore market-cap as of 13:00 IST
On Friday, five Adani Group stocks i.e. Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Ports & SEZ hit lower circuits.
After heavy beating in the Adani Group stocks, the impact seems visible on Adani Enterprises FPO (Follow-on Public Offer) that has opened today.
Banking stocks bleed
Banking stocks listed on Sensex lost 1.5%-5% each with SBI losing the most at 5%. Nifty bank index is down about 3% today and Nifty PSU Bank index has lost about 5% today.
FIIs run away
Foreign investors have been net sellers in January so far. In fact, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to sell in Indian equities for 16 days in a row to the tune of over ₹23,800 crore. On Friday, FIIs net sell was ₹5,977.86 crore while DIIs net buy stood at ₹4,252.33 crore.
Economic growth projections
The United Nations said on Wednesday that the India's GDP growth is expected to moderate to 5.8 percent in 2023 on the back of high interest rates and global economic slowdown.
The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 report said the world output growth is projected to decelerate from an estimated three per cent in 2022 to 1.9 per cent in 2023, marking one of the lowest growth rates in recent decades as a “series of severe and mutually reinforcing shocks — the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and resulting food and energy crises, surging inflation, debt tightening, as well as the climate emergency — battered the world economy in 2022", reported PTI.
