Investors lose over Rs 5 lakh crore as Sensex crashes 800 points. Here are key factors behind the mayhem

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Indian headline indices plunged on Thursday amid broad-based selling pressure. The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 840 points to the day's low of 72,624.14, while the broader Nifty50 shed 240 points to hit the day's low of 22,030.95.

Q4 earnings and election uncertainty have dented the Street sentiment. The volatility index India VIX also spiked 5% to 17.85 levels.

D-Street investors lost Rs 5.32 lakh crore in trade today as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies slipped below the Rs 400 lakh crore mark to Rs 395.65 lakh crore.
Here are a slew of factors that led to today's steep slide:

1) Poll Pressure
With three phases of the general elections 2024 behind us, uncertainty has hit the Street, with a visible drop in the pre-election exuberance.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi's prospects of getting re-elected is a consensus view, Street is keenly tracking the margin of win for the incumbent government.

2) Heavyweights Drag
Index heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) were the top contributors to the market crash. L&T dropped nearly 5% due to lower margins in the core E&C segment and reduced revenues from its subsidiaries in Q4.

Strong selling pressure in HDFC Bank and ITC also added to the market woes. Banking gauge Nifty Bank was trading 300 points lower, while Nifty FMCG was the worst performer in the pack, sinking 1,300 points.

More to come...