The Indian equity benchmarks witnessed their sharpest single-day drop in months on Thursday, triggered by heightened Middle East tensions pushing crude oil prices higher and ripples from global sell-offs. After three days of rallies, the Sensex cratered 3.26% or 2,496.89 points to settle at 74,207.24. Paralleling this, Nifty50 lost 3.26% or 775.65 points, closing at 23,002.15.
During trading, volatility was extreme: Sensex swung from an opening of 74,750.92 to a session low of 73,950.95, a 3.6% plunge. Nifty opened at 23,197.75, hit 22,930.35 at its nadir, down 3.5%.
Midcap and smallcap indices fared no better, declining 3.19% and 2.94% respectively. Sector-wise, Auto led the rout with a 4.25% drop, trailed by Realty (3.81%), Financial Services (3.78%), Private Banks (3.41%), IT (3.31%), Metals (3.24%), and FMCG (2.53%).
Nifty50 stocks were uniformly battered except ONGC, which rose 1.55%. Top losers: Shriram Finance (-6.71%), Eternal (-5.38%), HDFC Bank (-5.11%), alongside Bajaj Finance, M&M, L&T, Tata Motors, IndiGo, Grasim, Trent, and Bajaj Auto.
Market cap of BSE companies evaporated by ₹12 lakh crore, from ₹438 lakh crore to ₹426 lakh crore. With the Fed maintaining rates unchanged and oil volatility persisting, analysts warn of prolonged uncertainty for Indian markets.