Stock market lost Rs 1,094 cr per hour since last Diwali

As the stock market gears up for Diwali, the investors would desperately look for a turnaround of fortunes after losing more than Rs 1,000 crore in every hour of trade on an average since the festivities last year.

People celebrate Diwali in India as a festival of lights and prosperity and worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

However, the stock market trends have not been encouraging since last Diwali and the total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market value of all listed stocks, has fallen by a whopping Rs 17 lakh crore.

Taking into account a total 239 days of trade since last Diwali on November 5, 2010, and six-and-half hours of trade every day, the average per-hour loss works out to be Rs 1,094 crore for the market.

Market analysts expect this Diwali, which also marks the beginning of a new Samvat (Hindu calendar year) 2068, to bring some good luck to the Dalal Street.

This year, Diwali would be celebrated on Wednesday, October 26, 2011, when the markets would conduct a muhurat trading to mark the beginning of a new Samvat.

Taking into account the 20 per cent fall in the benchmark Sensex during the current Samvat, the investors have lost one-fifth of value in their holdings since last Diwali.

The 30-share benchmark index currently stands at 16,785.64 points — down 4,219.32 points or over 20 per cent since last Diwali, when the Sensex had scaled its record closing level of 21,004.96 points during its muhurat trade.

In the process, the total investor wealth, measured in terms of cumulative market valuation of all the listed stocks, has fallen to around Rs 60,00,000 crore — a huge dip of close to Rs 17,00,000 crore since November 5, 2010.

“Markets have had one of the worst performances. In this dull patch, many stocks have hit 52—week low and some of them hit multi-year lows. For investors, the experience till date is tumultuous,” Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Mr Paras Bothra said.

Experts believe that a host of issues, such as high inflation, soaring interest rates, deteriorating corporate performance, slowing of economic growth and political upheaval, have dented market sentiments in past one year.

The first quarter of Samvat year 2068, which would commence from October 26, is still expected to be muted primarily due to the aforesaid factors and lingering doubts over a resolution to euro-zone debt crisis.

Experts said investor sentiments are likely to improve after the first quarter of Samvat 2068 and the year could be good second quarter onwards.

“Sensex should be around 18,500 to 18,700 by next Diwali,” Kejriwal Research and Investment Services Director Mr Arun Kejriwal said.