Market crash: Investors lose Rs 1.75 lakh crore as Sensex fall 339 points

New Delhi: Stock market investors became poorer by Rs 1.75 lakh crore today amid sharp sell-off in key indices after Donald Trump's victory in the US election and the government's decision to withdraw high-value currency notes.

The overall investor wealth measured in terms of valuation of all listed stocks on BSE fell Rs 1,75,192 crore to Rs 1,09,68,808 crore at the end of trade.

During the morning session, the total investor wealth was down by nearly Rs 6 lakh crore.

Market sentiment took a hit also on the government's sudden action to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in order to curb black money.

After plunging about 1,689 points in early trade, the benchmark Sensex recovered most of the lost ground on buying at lower levels and ended with a loss of 338.61 points at 27,252.53.

From the 30-Sensex basket, 20 ended in the red led by TCS, while nine managed to stay in the positive zone. NTPC remained unchanged.

In a stunning result, billionaire businessman Donald Trump today beat seasoned politician Hillary Clinton in the knife-edge polls, defying the odds to become the 45th US President after starting off as a rank political outsider.

"The double-whammy of US electoral prospects and Prime Minister's demonetisation steps announcement overnight had sunk Indian equities earlier in the day. The disruptive nature of the overnight announcement caught markets by surprise and deflated sentiment which were already on a low following global cues. The clampdown effect was more seen in realty sector where cash is still king," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

"However, markets soon appreciated the long term positives of the drive, which was followed by value buying across the board, staging a vertical recovery from the day's lows," he added.

On the BSE, 2,157 stocks declined, while 610 advanced and 97 remained unchanged.

"Investors have witnessed unprecedented large event - Indian currency demonetisation and unanticipated victory of Trump. Both these events will have quite a bit of implications. Probably, we will have more clarity in the next few days. We, therefore, think to let things settle down and hopefully by then, we will have more answers than questions," said Sachin Shah, Fund Manager, Emkay Investment Managers.

"Of course, the eradication of black money menace from the Indian economy is a big positive in the long term and the economy will be on a very strong footing once the short-term teething problems are done away with," he noted.