Sensex sinks 1,000 pts at open, Nifty slips below 24,000 amid oil spike, Iran tensions; Titan, IndiGo, SBI, Eternal lead fall

Indian equity markets opened sharply lower on Monday, with the benchmark indices - Sensex and Nifty – plummeting over 1%, weighed down by renewed concerns over elevated crude oil prices and fears of a widening current account deficit.

The BSE Sensex declined as much as 964 points, or 1.24%, to an intraday low of 76,363.74 in early trade on Monday, while the Nifty 50 dropped 281 points, or 1.16%, slipping below the crucial 24,000 mark to touch 23,895. The sharp selloff wiped out nearly ₹3.82 lakh crore in investor wealth, with the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies falling to around ₹469.26 lakh crore.

Broader markets also witnessed selling pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 1% each, indicating widespread sell-off across market segments.

Volatility spiked sharply, with the India VIX surging 10.77% to 18.66, reflecting heightened investor nervousness.

What fuelled sell-off in market?

The selloff came after Brent crude prices surged back to $105 per barrel following renewed uncertainty over the West Asia crisis after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly rejected Iran’s latest communication, dimming hopes of an early resolution.

Market sentiment was further impacted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to citizens to curb consumption of petrol and diesel, gold, chemical fertilisers and edible oil, while also discouraging avoidable foreign travel as part of efforts to manage pressure on the current account deficit arising from high crude prices.

“PM Modi’s appeal to the nation to curb the consumption of petrol/diesel, gold, chemical fertilisers and  edible oil and refrain from avoidable foreign travel is a crisis management response to the current account deficit problem caused by high crude prices. This call for austerity has slightly negative implication for economic growth in FY27,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.

He added that the industries related to the austerity call like petroleum, chemical fertilisers, gold, air travel, hotel and related sectors will be sentimentally impacted. “Sectors like pharmaceuticals which will not be impacted in any manner will remain resilient.”

Titan, IndiGo, SBI, Eternal among top losers

Among Sensex constituents, 28 out of 30 stocks were in red, barring NTPC and HCL Tech .   Titan Company was the top loser, declining 5.61%, followed by InterGlobe Aviation , which fell 3.69%, State Bank of India  down 3.18%, and Eternal lower by 2.91%.

Auto and telecom stocks also remained under pressure, with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd falling 2.57% and Maruti Suzuki India slipping 1.79%.

On the gaining side, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 0.16%, while HCL Technologies gained 0.12% in early trade.

Among sectoral indices, rate-sensitive and consumption-linked sectors witnessed the sharpest decline. The Nifty Consumer Durables index dropped 2.99%, while Nifty Realty declined 1.85% and Nifty Auto slipped 1.82%.

Banking and financial stocks also traded weak, with the Nifty PSU Bank index down 1.43%, Nifty Financial Services falling 1.18%, and Nifty Private Bank lower by 0.79%.

Oil-linked sectors remained under pressure, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index declining 1.21%.

Defensive pockets such as IT, FMCG and healthcare showed relative resilience amid the broader selloff. The Nifty IT index was down just 0.07%, while Nifty FMCG slipped 0.36% and Nifty Healthcare Index declined 0.41%. The Nifty Pharma index also remained comparatively stable, falling 0.59%, as investors shifted towards defensive sectors less exposed to macroeconomic pressures.

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