Nifty slips below 24,000; Sensex down 700 pts as crude crosses $100; indices recover from lows

Benchmark indices ended lower on Monday, weighed down by a rise in crude oil prices and weak global cues. The Nifty 50 closed below the 24,000 mark, while the BSE Sensex declined around 700 points. Both indices recovered from sharper intraday losses.

Recovery from intraday lows

The Nifty fell to an intraday low of 23,555.60 before recovering to close near 23,800, indicating a pullback of about 200 points. The Sensex rebounded nearly 600–700 points from its intraday low of 75,868.32 to settle close to 76,800.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 702.68 points lower at 76,847.57, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 ended 207.95 points lower at 23,842.65.

Crude oil surge drives sentiment

The decline was triggered by a spike in crude oil prices, which crossed $100 per barrel after US–Iran negotiations collapsed. The development raised concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit route. Higher crude prices have implications for inflation, current account balance and input costs for companies.

Global markets remained weak, with Asian and European indices trading lower. The risk-off sentiment led to continued foreign institutional investor outflows, which added pressure on domestic equities. The rupee weakened against the US dollar during the session, reflecting the impact of higher oil prices and capital outflows.

Broad-based selling across sectors

All sectoral indices ended in the red. Banking and financial stocks were among the key contributors to the decline. Oil marketing companies saw selling due to concerns around margin pressure in a high crude price environment. IT stocks also declined, tracking weak global cues and currency movement.

Midcap and smallcap indices declined in line with the benchmarks, indicating broad-based selling. Market breadth remained negative, with declines outpacing advances. Volatility increased during the session, with India VIX moving higher.

There were no major domestic triggers influencing market direction. The movement remained driven by crude oil prices, currency movement and foreign flows.

The recovery from lows indicates buying at lower levels, but near-term direction remains linked to crude price movement and global developments.