Sensex crashes 1,836 points; Nifty slips below 22,600 amid global sell-off

Indian stock markets plunged sharply, with Sensex falling 1,836 points and Nifty dropping below 22,600, amid weak global cues, rising crude oil prices, and escalating Middle East tensions. Continued FII outflows and rupee weakness further dampened investor sentiment

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty plummeted on Monday in tandem with an extremely weak trend in global markets, as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of a slowdown.

Rising crude oil prices due to the war, which has entered its fourth week, relentless foreign fund outflows, and weakness in the rupee have also made investors risk-averse.

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The 30-share BSE Sensex dived 1,836.57 points, or 2.46 per cent, to settle at 72,696.39. During the day, it plunged 1,974.52 points, or 2.64 per cent, to 72,558.44.

The 50-share NSE Nifty tanked 601.85 points, or 2.60 per cent, to end at 22,512.65.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Titan tumbled the most, by 6.24 per cent. Trent, UltraTech Cement, Bharat Electronics, InterGlobe Aviation, Tata Steel, and HDFC Bank were also among the major laggards.

HCL Tech, Power Grid, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra were the gainers.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 0.97 per cent to USD 113.3 per barrel.

“Markets witnessed a sharp sell-off on Monday, continuing the prevailing downtrend amid weak global cues and escalating geopolitical tensions. Investor sentiment remained extremely fragile amid escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia, which have once again pushed crude oil prices sharply higher,” Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

The spike in oil prices, along with continued foreign institutional investor outflows and weakness in the rupee, significantly dented risk appetite, Mishra said.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended sharply lower. The Kospi dived the most, by 6.49 per cent.

Markets in Europe were trading with deep cuts, while the US market had ended significantly lower on Friday.

“Domestic markets witnessed a sharp decline, mirroring weakness across Asian markets amid escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Investor sentiment turned cautious following Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran on the Strait of Hormuz,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Rising global bond yields signalled heightened inflation and fiscal concerns, while the rupee falling to a record low further pressured markets and triggered FII outflows, he added.

The BSE MidCap Select index tanked 3.82 per cent, and the SmallCap Select index plunged 3.66 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended lower. Consumer durables tumbled 4.91 per cent, metal (4.76 per cent), realty (4.75 per cent), services (4.70 per cent), BSE PSU Bank (4.39 per cent), MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt (4.37 per cent), commodities (4.35 per cent), industrials (4.05 per cent), and capital goods (3.99 per cent).

A total of 3,798 stocks declined, while 635 advanced and 123 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Since the conflict began on February 28, the BSE benchmark has tumbled 8,590.8 points, or 10.56 per cent, and the Nifty has lost 2,666 points, or 10.58 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,518.39 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs), however, bought stocks worth Rs 5,706.23 crore. Foreign investors have pulled out Rs 88,180 crore (about USD 9.6 billion) from Indian equities so far this month.

On Friday, the Sensex had climbed 325.72 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 74,532.96. The Nifty edged higher by 112.35 points, or 0.49 per cent, to end at 23,114.50.