
It was the second consecutive day of strong losses for equity benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, on Monday, March 9, as panic selling continued due to escalating US-Iran war, spike in crude oil prices, and the rupee's fall to record low levels.
The Sensex crashed 1,353 points, or 1.71%, to end at 77,566.16, while the Nifty 50 declined 422 points, or 1.73%, to end at 24,028.05. The selloff was more intense in the broader segment as the BSE 150 MidCap Index crashed 2%, while the BSE 250 SmallCap Index plunged 2.46%.
Investors lost ₹9 lakh crore in a session on Monday, while the two sessions of selloff have made them poorer by ₹12 lakh crore. The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms stood at ₹441 lakh crore on Monday against ₹453 lakh crore on Thursday.
The Sensex and the Nifty 50 have lost 3% in two consecutive sessions.
"Investor sentiment remained fragile due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which triggered a sharp surge in crude oil prices, with Brent crude testing the nearly $119.5 mark, raising concerns over inflation and economic growth. The spike in oil prices, weakness in the rupee, and continued foreign institutional investor (FII) selling further intensified the sell-off in domestic equities," Ajit Mishra, SVP- Research, Religare Broking, observed.
Meanwhile, as many as 875 stocks hit their 52-week lows on the BSE on Monday.
HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Asian Paints, InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo), Trent, and Ambuja Cements were among the stocks that hit their 52-week lows on the BSE in intraday trade on Monday.
Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Suzlon Energy, Shree Cement, REC, Info Edge (India), Indian Hotels Company, Gail (India), DLF, Dixon Technologies (India), Coforge, and Bajaj Holdings & Investment were also among the stocks that hit their 52-week lows on the BSE.
On the other hand, 72 stocks, including Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), Citurgia Biochemicals, Jindal Poly Films, Motilal Oswal Nifty India Defence ETF, and SBI Nifty Midcap 150 Momentum 50 ETF, hit their 52-week highs on the BSE.
Some 16 stocks, including Balkrishna Paper Mills, DSP Nifty 50 Equal Weight ETF, Allcargo Terminals, and DCM Nouvelle, crashed more than 15% on the BSE.
However, Jindal Poly Investment and R Systems International were among the 10 stocks that defied stock market weakness and jumped more than 15% on the BSE.
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Nishant is a market reporter at Mint, where he holds the official designation of Principal Correspondent – Markets. He has been closely tracking the Indian stock market as well as major global stock markets along with the broader macroeconomic trends for a decade. <br><br> He is obsessed with breaking down complex financial and economic concepts into clear and engaging stories. He focuses not only on what is happening in the markets, but also why it matters. <br><br> His coverage includes stock market trends, sector rotations, monetary and fiscal policy developments, inflation, growth data, and personal finance strategies. <br><br> With nearly 10 years of experience in covering financial markets, Nishant has covered bull markets, corrections, policy transitions, and macro developments that has equipped him with a deep understanding of how domestic and global forces shape markets and affect investments. <br><br> He regularly interviews market veterans, fund managers, economists, policymakers, and corporate leaders to provide readers with a 360-degree view of market dynamics and the broader economic landscape. <br><br> Before joining Mint, Nishant worked with some of India’s most respected business newsrooms, including The Economic Times and Moneycontrol, where he reported extensively on the stock market, corporate earnings, macroeconomic trends, GDP, inflation, monetary policies of the RBI and the US Federal Reserve, bonds, and currencies. <br><br> Apart from economics and investing, he has interests in geopolitics and emerging technologies, such as AI.
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