Why did Dalal Street end up losing Rs 5 lakh crore in 30 minutes

New Delhi, Apr 19: The imposition of several restrictions to curtail the spread of COVID-19 took the toll on Dalal Street, with investors losing Rs 5.27 lakh crore within the first half an hour of trade.

The targets of around 11 per cent GDP growth and above 30 per cent earnings growth for FY22 that the market had assumed before the second wave of the virus struck the country are likely to be missed said an Economic Times report.

The dollar index was languishing near a one month low against its rivals. The Benchmark US 10 year Treasury yields edged lower towards multi-week lows hit last week. Further the European Central Bank is meeting on Thursday and no changes to rates are expected.

While this is the good news, the bad news is that the number of COVID-19 cases are rising rapidly and several states have announced strict lockdown like restrictions.

The benchmark indices have plunged further after opening in the red. The BSE flagship Sensex was down 1,397 points at 9.40 am. The NSE benchmark Nifty followed shedding 408 points to 14,210.

The biggest gainer was Dr Reddy Laboratories , up 0.96 per cent. Divi's Laboratories and Cipla were the other gainers. ICIC bank lost the most, down 5.23 per cent. The other losers were Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and Kotak.

Nifty Smallcap was down 3.06 per cent while the Nifty Midcap fell by 3.13 per cent while Nifty 500 was down 2.58. per cent. Syngene, Cummins India, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Linde India, Future Retail and Thyrocare Technologies were gainers from the space while HEG, Bajaj Electricals, Hindustan Copper, AU Small Finance Bank, RBL Bank and Adani Total Gas were under selling pressure, the ET report further added.

On the global scene, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific share outside Japan was last 695.59 with a striking distance of Friday's high of 696.48. The Australian shares were 0.25 per cent higher while New Zealand's benchmark index and South Korea's KOSPI added 0.4 per cent each.