Mumbai: India’s stock market capitalisation fell below the $2 trillion mark for the first time in six months, triggered by the selloff on Dalal Street in July that led to an 8.8 per cent erosion in investor wealth during the month. The country’s total value of all listed stocks dropped to $1.97 trillion on Friday, slipping below Europe’s biggest economy Germany as foreign investor sentiment has soured following the increase in tax surcharge on many of them and a slowdown in the economy.India first entered the $2 trillion market cap club of eight countries in May 2017. After slipping briefly in February, market value rebounded to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion on June 4 on hopes that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government with a strong majority in Parliament would unleash measures to revive the economy and end the malaise that has gripped nonbanking finance companies ( NBFCs ).The country’s stock market, which overtook Germany’s to become the seventh largest in the world in December last year, slipped to ninth amid foreign portfolio investors ( FPIs ) selling equities worth ?15,000 crore since the July 5 budget because of concerns over higher taxation. State Bank of India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Axis Bank, Coal India and Larsen & Toubro contributed the most to the erosion in market capitalisation in July.Canada and Germany, with 19 per cent and 4 per cent respective gains, in market cap are currently commanding the seventh and eighth positions. India had overtaken Canada to become the world’s eighthbiggest stock market in November 2017 after almost a decade.The total market capitalisation of all the listed Indian firms had first crossed the $1 trillion mark on May 28, 2007.India and South Korea are the only countries, among the top 15 by market capitalisation, that have lost market value in 2019. China’s market cap has risen by 22 per cent to $6.58 trillion so far this year while that of the US has gained 19.2 per cent to $32.037 trillion so far this year.ET reported on August 3 that the government has begun to look at providing some quick relief to foreign portfolio investors from the super-rich surcharge, worried over the exit of foreign investors from the capital market and overall sentiment turning negative.