Investor wealth eroded by over ₹1 trillion on Thursday as equities came under pressure after registering gains in the past two days.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened lower and remained in the negative territory throughout the trading session.

The benchmark finally closed at 38,979.85, lower by 323 points or 0.82%.




At close of trade, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies tumbled ₹1,03,247.77 crore to ₹1,59,04,784.95 crore.

"Markets surrendered yesterday's gains and settled closer to the day's low following weak global cues. The US Fed in its policy meet raised concern over economic recovery which triggered a weak start in our market," Religare Broking Ltd VP - Research Ajit Mishra said.

"Though the benchmark tried to recover multiple times during the day, profit-taking on every rise not only capped the upside but also pushed the index lower," he added.

Bajaj Finserv was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling 2.23%, followed by PowerGrid, L&T, TCS and ICICI Bank, while HCL Tech, Infosys and Maruti were among the five gainers.

"Sentiments got a hit after the US Fed highlighted uncertainty surrounding economic recovery," Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking said.

In the broader market, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell up to 0.53%.

Among BSE indices, realty, metal, bankex, capital goods and finance dropped as much as 1.87%, while healthcare, IT and tech closed with gains.

On the BSE, 1,612 companies declined, while 1,125 advanced and 159 remained unchanged.