NEW DELHI: Equity investors became poorer by over Rs 5.47 lakh crore in early trade on Monday amid an extremely weak trend in the broader market with the Sensex plunging over 1,500 points.
The 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 1,568.46 points to 52,734.98 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty slumped 451.9 points to 15,749.90.
In line with the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded from Rs 5,47,410.81 crore to Rs 2,46,36,948.05 crore in morning trade.
"Nifty opened gap down as equity markets across the globe are witnessing a sell-off after US May inflation data accelerated to four decades high, which raised concerns about aggressive rate hikes by US Fed in the upcoming monetary policy meeting due this Wednesday.
"On the domestic side, India's inflation data is due on Monday on account of which nervousness is likely to be seen in the market," said Hemang Jani, Head Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC were among the major laggards from the Sensex pack.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were trading with deep cuts.
Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on Friday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,973.95 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.