For the second day running, Indian equities closed deep in the red, hammered by soaring global oil prices triggered by the ongoing Middle East conflict and the Hormuz Strait blockade. A depreciating rupee and jittery investor sentiment compounded the woes, leading to a broad-based selloff.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 852.49 points (1.09%) to 77,664, while Nifty50 declined 205.05 points (0.84%) to 24,173.05. Intraday, Sensex opened higher at 77,983.66 but sank to 77,574.18, a drop of over 1%. Nifty opened at 24,202.35, bottoming out at 24,134.80 after a 1% fall.
This two-day carnage has wiped out about 2% from both benchmarks, with Sensex down 1,600 points. Mid and small-cap indices also turned negative, unlike yesterday’s resilience: Smallcap 100 -0.67%, Midcap 100 -0.41%.
All sectors bled except Pharma (+2.36%) and Media (+0.90%). Hardest hit were Auto (-2.35%), PSU Banks (-2.19%), Realty (-1.83%), Financial Services (-1.38%), Private Banks (-1.31%), and IT (-1.22%).
In Nifty50 pack, standouts on the upside were Dr. Reddy’s, Cipla, Adani Enterprises, Coal India, Apollo Hospitals, Adani Ports, ONGC, and Nestle. The downside was dominated by Trent, Shriram Finance, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, SBI Life, HCL Tech, and M&M.
Crude oil’s relentless climb—Brent at $103 after a 1.1% jump—stems from Hormuz tensions and failed US-Iran negotiations, up 70% YTD. The rupee’s fourth straight weakening day past 94 levels adds pressure on import-heavy sectors.
As markets grapple with these headwinds, analysts warn of heightened uncertainty, urging investors to monitor oil trajectories and geopolitical developments closely for cues on the next leg.
