On Wednesday, the 10-year G-Sec yield stood at 7.34%, down 4 bps from 7.38% seen on Monday. On Tuesday, the US 10-year bond yield had closed at 4.83%.

“Global events such as the rise in US bond yields to multi-year highs and the ongoing war in the Middle East have shaken investor sentiment. With the small-cap and mid-caps being overbought and overvalued, investors were waiting for a trigger to exit, and events over the past couple of weeks have provided that,” said Anshul Arzare, MD and CEO of YES Securities.

Since the beginning of the year, the small-cap and mid-cap indices have returned over 25% and 22%, respectively, while the benchmark index has returned just over 5%.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms, which had reached an all-time high of over Rs 324 trillion on September 11 this year, has now slid to Rs 309 trillion.

FPIs had sold a net $849 million (Rs 7,067 crore) in October up to Monday, while DIIs had injected up to Rs 16,144 crore. On Wednesday, FPIs continued their flight, pulling out Rs 4,236.60 crore, while DIIs remained invested, buying to the tune of Rs 3,569.36 crore, showed provisional data by the exchanges.

“FPIs have been net sellers for more than a month, but it hasn’t unsettled the market too much. This looks like a secular story with multiple global events playing out and impacting sentiment. The correction in mid-caps and small-caps has been more of an impact because investors are booking profits,” said U R Bhat, co-founder and Director at Alphaniti Fintech.

He pointed out that with Q2 earnings having been reasonably in line with expectations, market valuations isn’t an area of concern for foreign investors.

Analysts, however, have been of the view that any escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine will add to pressure on crude oil prices, which are trading at just short of $90 a barrel.

Financials have seen a disappointing run as well, with the Bankex and Bank Nifty almost mirroring the trend seen in the benchmarks. The former has shed 3.57% in the past five sessions, falling close to 1,781 points, while the latter has shed 3.55%, down 1,578 points.

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