Stocks plunge on US bond yields surge, escalating Israel conflict

Jittery retail, affluent investors trigger sell-off in small- and mid-cap stocks, eroding ₹7.5 tn in wealth

- Ram Sahgal

Indian stocks plunged on concerns over the impact of rising US bond yields, the widening Israel-Hamas conflict, and the pressure on profitability posed by potentially higher crude oil prices. The decline was fuelled by widespread selling by retail and affluent investors across small- and mid-cap stocks, which had previously outperformed their large-cap counterparts.

The Nifty and Sensex fell by more than a percent each, breaching key supports, while the Nifty Midcap 150 and the Nifty Smallcap 250 indices slumped 2.7% and 3.79% each. The fall was due to direct retail investor selling, which led to overall investor wealth falling by 17.47 trillion from Friday's total market capitalization to 308.99 trillion on Monday.

The decline happened despite foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchasing a provisional 252.25 crore and domestic institutional investors buying 1,111.84 crore worth of shares. Market experts attributed the decline to high networth individuals (HNIS) and retail investors selling off. The carnage in mid-cap and small-cap stocks led to these indices underperforming the benchmark Nifty and Sensex from their September record highs.