Monday blues on D-Street: Sensex, Nifty plunge nearly 3% as Brent crosses $100; ₹13 lakh crore wiped out

Indian equity markets witnessed a sharp sell-off in opening trade on Monday, with benchmark indices crashing nearly 3% amid broad-based selling across sectors and significant losses in financial and auto stocks.

The sharp fall wiped out nearly ₹13 lakh crore in investor wealth in early trade, with the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange dropping to about ₹436.50 lakh crore.

The Nifty 50 fell nearly 2.8%, or about 677 points, to around 23,770, compared with the previous close of 24,450. Similarly, the BSE Sensex plunged more than 2,240 points, or about 2.8%, to around 76,677. The broader market was also reeling under selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices tumbling up to 2% each.

Banking and financial stocks lead fall

Financial stocks were among the biggest drags on the market. The Nifty Bank dropped about 3.8%, while the Nifty Financial Services index fell 3.7%. Banking stocks saw heavy selling, with State Bank of India declining over 5%, and Axis Bank , ICICI Bank , and HDFC Bank falling between 3% and 4%. Among banking indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index plunged over 5.2%, while the Nifty Private Bank index slipped around 3.4%.

Auto and industrial stocks also faced significant selling pressure. The Nifty Auto index declined nearly 3.9%, with shares of Maruti Suzuki India dropping more than 5%. Engineering major Larsen & Toubro fell over 4%. Other heavyweight stocks such as Asian Paints , Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra , and UltraTech Cement also registered notable declines. Airline operator InterGlobe Aviation, which runs the IndiGo brand, emerged as one of the worst performers among key stocks, tumbling nearly 8% during the session.

Technology stocks traded lower but limited losses compared with other sectors. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services , Infosys , and HCLTech declined by up to 1.5%, weighing on the Nifty IT index, which slipped just over 1%. Other cyclical sectors were also under pressure, with the Nifty Metal index dropping about 3% and the Nifty Realty index declining around 2.6%. Defensive sectors such as Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma saw relatively milder losses.

Market breadth remained weak. Out of 3,607 stocks traded on the BSE, 585 advanced, while 2,834 declined and 188 remained unchanged. Around 32 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 581 stocks slipped to 52-week lows. Additionally, 83 stocks were locked in upper circuits, whereas 145 stocks hit lower circuit limits.

Oil spike and global cues trigger broad-based market rout

Analysts attributed the sharp fall partly to global cues, particularly the surge in crude oil prices amid geopolitical tensions. V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited, said Brent crude rising above $115 per barrel had delivered a major oil shock to global markets.

“Big oil importers like India will be hit hard if the West Asian conflict lingers and crude prices remain high. Inflation will certainly move up whether the oil price hike is passed on to consumers or not,” he said, adding that uncertainty around the duration of the conflict could also keep foreign investors cautious.

However, he noted that historically the market impact of geopolitical conflicts tends to be temporary and advised long-term investors to remain patient.

Meanwhile, Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said the market was trading well below key short- and medium-term averages and forming a lower-top pattern on daily charts, signalling continued volatility.

He noted that 24,300 on the Nifty and 78,800 on the Sensex would act as immediate support levels, while 24,500 and 79,500 could serve as resistance.

“Level-based trading would be an ideal strategy for traders in the current volatile environment,” he said.

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