Indian equity markets opened sharply lower on Monday, with the Sensex plunging over 950 points and the Nifty slipping below the 23,350 mark, amid rising crude oil prices, escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia, a weakening rupee, and sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) selling.

The BSE Sensex declined as much as 962 points, or 1.27%, to 74,252.78, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 310 points, or 1.3%, to 23,332 amid broad-based selling pressure across sectors. The sharp sell-off eroded nearly ₹7.5 lakh crore of investor wealth, with the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies falling to ₹452.58 lakh crore.

Broader markets also witnessed heavy selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 falling 1.21% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 1.6%. Volatility surged sharply as India VIX jumped over 6% to 19.96.

Barring IT, all sectors in red

Almost all sectoral indices traded in negative territory, with consumer durables, realty and banking stocks leading the decline. The Nifty Consumer Durables index dropped 2.49%, Realty fell 2.23%, PSU Bank declined 2.03%, Auto slipped 1.76% and Metal fell 1.7%. Nifty IT was the only sector trading in positive territory, rising 0.45%.

Among individual stocks, Tata Steel emerged as the top loser, tumbling 4.11%, followed by Power Grid Corporation of India, which declined 3.74%. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone slipped 2.29%, while State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan Company, Maruti Suzuki India and Trent fell between 2% and 2.2%.

Banking heavyweights also remained under pressure, with HDFC Bank falling 1.8%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down 1.27%, Axis Bank slipping 1.04% and ICICI Bank declining 0.6%.

On the gaining side, IT stocks outperformed the broader market. Infosys rose 1.13%, emerging as the top Sensex gainer, followed by Tech Mahindra, up 0.49%, and Bharti Airtel, which gained 0.43%. Tata Consultancy Services also traded marginally higher.

Crude prices weigh on markets

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said the market weakness was largely driven by adverse global cues.

“The market is set to start the week on a weak note from global cues. Brent crude has spiked to $111 due to the absence of initiatives to open the Strait of Hormuz. Elevated crude prices may force another round of price hikes in petrol and diesel, which will have negative implications for inflation,” he said.

He added that the spike in the U.S. 10-year bond yield to 4.62% is another negative factor for emerging market equities.

“The rupee may further depreciate, aggravating the vicious cycle of rupee depreciation and FPI selling,” Vijayakumar noted.

Market participants are also closely watching the impact of elevated crude prices on inflation and India’s fiscal and external balances, with fears that sustained oil prices above $100 per barrel could intensify macroeconomic pressures.

According to a recent report by Systematix Institutional Research, rising wholesale inflation and persistent crude oil pressures could push India’s retail inflation into the 6–7% range in the second half of FY27.

The report noted that the recent ₹3-per-litre fuel price hike offsets only 7–8% of cumulative under-recoveries from nearly three months of unchanged fuel prices, with total losses estimated at ₹1.7–1.8 lakh crore. It expects several more rounds of fuel price hikes to recover past losses, especially if crude oil prices remain above $100 per barrel.

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