Stock market crash: The Indian stock market suffered significant losses in early trade on Thursday, December 19, with benchmark Sensex crashing almost 1,200 points and Nifty nosediving back to 23,870 level after the US Fed signalled the pace of rate cuts could be slower going ahead.
Sensex opened at 79,029.03 against its previous close of 80,182.20 and dropped 1,162 points to the level of 79,020.08. Similarly, the Nifty 50 opened at 23,877.15 against its previous close of 24,198.85 and dropped 329 points to the level of 23,870.30.
The overall market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms dropped to nearly ₹446.5 lakh crore from ₹452.6 lakh crore in the previous session, causing investors to lose ₹6 crore in just a few minutes of Thursday’s trade. In the last four days of losses, investors have lost nearly ₹13 lakh crore, as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms stood at ₹459.4 lakh crore on Friday, December 13.
Despite the US Federal Reserve trimming its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25-4.50 per cent on December 18—aligning with market expectations—its rate cut outlook dampened market sentiment worldwide. The Fed revised its rate reduction outlook, projecting only two more rate cuts of a quarter-percentage point by the end of 2025.
More to come…
