Sensex Crash on 19th March 2026 Highlights: Sensex ends around 2,500 pts lower, Nifty at 23,002; ₹12 lakh crore eroded

Market wrap by Mr. Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd

"Markets witnessed a sharp sell-off on Thursday, reversing the recent recovery trend amid weak global cues and heightened geopolitical tensions. The Nifty opened gap-down in response to negative global signals and remained under sustained selling pressure throughout the session. Despite intermittent intraday recovery attempts, the index failed to hold higher levels and eventually settled near the 23,054 mark, declining by approximately 3.02%.

Selling pressure was broad-based; all sectors ended in the red, reflecting widespread market weakness. Auto, realty, and financials emerged as the key laggards. The broader markets also saw significant declines, with both midcap and smallcap indices falling around 3% each.

The sharp rise in crude oil prices—driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East and concerns over supply disruptions—pushed prices closer to the $119 mark, adding to the negative sentiment.

Furthermore, a hawkish stance from the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with continued foreign institutional investor outflows, weighed heavily on market sentiment. Additional pressure came from rupee weakness and rising concerns over inflation and economic growth.

From a technical perspective, the Nifty erased the gains of the previous three sessions in a single move and breached the prior swing low around the 22,900 level during the day.

These developments indicate that the corrective trend remains intact, with immediate support placed in the 22,500–22,800 zone. On the upside, any rebound towards the 23,400–23,600 range is likely to encounter strong resistance.

Given the current market environment, participants are advised to align their positions with the prevailing trend. It is prudent to prefer option strategies over naked positions in the benchmark, while adopting a selective approach in stock-specific trades, with a strong emphasis on managing overnight risk."

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments said:

"The domestic market ended sharply lower, giving up the gains of the past three days, as a series of attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East triggered a renewed spike in oil prices and dampened investor sentiment. The US Fed adopted a hawkish stance, signalling higher inflation amid elevated geopolitical uncertainty.

Relentless FII selling pushed the rupee to a fresh all-time low, while concerns over rising input costs, potential fuel supply disruptions, and slowdown fears led to broad-based selling. Stock-specific pressure was seen in HDFC Bank following the exit of its part-time chairman. Current volatility may persist in the near term due to elevated oil prices and the new wave of attacks in the Middle East."

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities on Nifty today:

"The Nifty slipped sharply after a few days of strong closing as the resurfacing of intense conflict between the US–Israel and Iran spooked the market. The index fell to its lowest closing level in several days, indicating a sharp rise in pessimism. The RSI has entered a bearish crossover and is falling, suggesting increasing bearish momentum.

Going forward, a decisive fall below 23,000 might trigger further downside towards 22,700 or even lower. On the other hand, a decisive move above 23,000 could push the index towards 23,350."

Broader markets were in line with benchmark indices with Nifty Midcap 100 down 3.2% and Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 2.95%.

The Indian stock market tumbled sharply on Thursday, March 19, with benchmark indices ending over 3% lower, tracking heavy losses in global markets amid concerns over rising crude oil prices and after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged.

Sensex ended 2497 points or 3.26% at 74,207, while the Nifty 50 lost 776 points, or 3.26% lower to settle at 23,002.

Diversified conglomerate ITC saw its shares extend losses for the third straight day on Thursday, March 19, falling another 2% to the day’s low of ₹298.55 apiece. The stock was last seen at this level in August 2022.

Today’s decline has taken the stock’s fall to 4.5% in March so far and a sharp 25.66% on a year-to-date basis. After closing 2025 with a 12% drop, the stock extended its weak trend into 2026, falling 21% in January, followed by another 3% decline in the subsequent month.

The additional excise duty on cigarette prices, along with muted performance in the December quarter, coupled with target price cuts by brokerages and rising competition, has dented investor sentiment, making the stock one of the worst performers among Nifty 50 constituents in 2026 so far. Read more

Global oil and natural gas prices soared Thursday after Iran attacked a key natural gas facility in Qatar that can supply one-fifth of the worlds gas as well as two oil refineries in Kuwait. The attacks added to fears the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic may be longer and more extensive than feared, with lasting damage to oil and gas production.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose to USD 116.38 per barrel, up from under USD 73 per barrel on the eve of the war.

The European TTF benchmark for natural gas prices traded 24% higher on Thursday.

The Iranian attack hit the Ras Laffan terminal for shipping out liquefied natural gas in Qatar. Qatar normally supplies some 20% of the world's consumption of LNG, which can be carried by ship. The facility shut down after a drone attack. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most tanker traffic also left the gas with nowhere to go. (PTI)

Asian equities dropped in early trading as oil prices climbed following attacks on key energy infrastructure in the Middle East, underscoring investor concerns that an escalating war will add to inflation pressures.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.7%, snapping a three-day advance, as investors trimmed risk. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 2.9% while Topix fell 2.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.5%. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.

US equity futures edged lower after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both fell 1.4% on Wednesday whereas Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 1.6%. (Bloomberg)

Investors' wealth was eroded by more than ₹12 lakh crore as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to over ₹427 lakh crore from ₹439 lakh crore in the previous session.

Apollo Micro Systems has announced the approval of a new allotment of equity shares that will be issued on a preferential basis for trading to non-promoters following the conversion of warrants.

Both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have granted their approval. According to the official announcement, a total of 11,696 equity shares, each with a face value of Re 1, have been authorized for listing.

The newly issued shares have been listed and are authorized for trading starting March 19, 2026, and can be traded under the company's existing trading symbol.

The shares were issued at a price of ₹114 each, which includes a premium, and they rank equally with the existing equity shares of the company. This signifies that they possess the same rights regarding dividends, voting, and other shareholder advantages, guaranteeing that existing investors do not experience any reduction in their rights. Read more

Rajputana Stainless share price plunged over 10% after making a muted debut in the Indian stock market today. Rajputana Stainless IPO listing date was today, 19 March, and the stock has been listed on BSE and NSE.

Rajputana Stainless share price got listed at ₹123.95 apiece on the BSE, a premium of 1.59% to its issue price of ₹122 per share. On NSE, the stock was listed flat at ₹122 per share.

The listing of Rajputana Stainless shares comes amid the stock market crash today. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 were trading over 2% lower each, weighed down by sharp selling across sectors.

Rajputana Stainless share price succumbed to selling pressure after muted listing. The stock slumped over 10% from its listing price amid profit-booking. Rajputana Stainless shares declined as much as 10.24% from its listing price to ₹111.25 apiece on the BSE.

Brokerage firm Macquarie Capital removed HDFC Bank from its ‘Marquee Buy’ list following the abrupt resignation of its part-time chairman Atanu Chakraborty, said media reports. This raised fresh concerns around corporate governance at the country’s largest private lender.

Despite this, the brokerage retained its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock with a 12-month target price of ₹1,200. This indicates an upside potential of over 55% from today's low, indicating confidence in the bank’s long-term fundamentals.

Reports stated that Macquarie has flagged governance-related uncertainties, which could weigh on the HDFC Bank stock in the near term, even as the bank’s core fundamentals remain intact.

“Near-term underperformance may persist. While fundamentals remain strong with healthy return on assets (RoA), governance concerns will weigh heavily on the stock at this point,” the brokerage was quoted saying by the reports.

The biggest blow was dealt by FIIs, given the massive 47.70% stake held by them at the end of the December quarter. Today's meltdown in HDFC Bank shares wiped off ₹45,072 crore from their overall wealth.

Government of Singapore faced a steep ₹2,150 crore loss for the 2.27% stake held in the lender, while Vanguard lost ₹1,176 crore as it owned 1.24% shares of HDFC Bank.

The Government Pension Fund Global, commonly known as the Oil Fund, is Norway's sovereign wealth fund and the world's largest. It held a 1.22% stake in HDFC Bank and suffered a notional loss of ₹1,151.27 crore today.

Back home, LIC is among the biggest shareholders of HDFC Bank. As of its December quarter holding of 4.77%, HDFC Bank's share price crash wiped off ₹4,510 crore from its portfolio wealth today. Read more

Vodafone Idea, HDFC Bank, Jaiprakash Power Ventures (JP Power), Filatex Fashions, Tata Silver Exchange Traded Fund, Dharan Infra-EPC, Eternal, YES Bank, and Adani Total Gas were among the most traded stocks, or most active stocks in terms of volume, on the NSE.

NTPC Green Energy, Tata Gold Exchange Traded Fund, Suzlon Energy, Nippon India Silver ETF, Nippon India ETF Gold Bees, Ola Electric Mobility, Auri Grow India, Urban Company, PC Jeweller, ITI, and IDFC First Bank were also among the most traded stocks on the NSE. Read more

Shares of kitchen appliance companies Stove Kraft, TTK Prestige, and Butterfly Gandhimathi surged sharply on Thursday as a deepening global gas crisis triggered by Middle East tensions sparked a sudden spike in demand for alternatives like induction cooktops in India.

Stocks of Stove Kraft, TTK Prestige, and Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances rallied as much as 14% after Qatar confirmed significant damage to Ras Laffan Industrial City—the world’s largest LNG facility—following Iranian missile strikes.

Butterfly Gandhimathi has soared almost 14% to its intra-day high of ₹674.20. Stove Kraft has jumped 6.4% to its day's high of ₹525.75, meanwhile, TTK Prestige has added 4.5% to its day's high of ₹500.

In comparison, Indian stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell over 2% each after US Federal Reserve policy kept policy rates unchanged flagging inflationary risks.

The sharp crash in HDFC Bank shares following the resignation of part-chairman Antanu Chakraborty, citing differences over "values and ethics", has significantly eroded investor wealth as the overall market capitalisation of India's largest private lender briefly slipped below the ₹12 lakh crore mark.

HDFC Bank share price crashed 8% to a 52-week low of ₹772 on the BSE today, as against the last closing price of ₹842.95. The investor sentiment had weakened significantly overnight as HDFC Bank ADRs tumbled as much as 7% after the bank informed about the resignation in a late-night filing.

At the day's low, HDFC Bank shares market capitalisation came in at ₹11.88 lakh crore as against the last close of 12.96 lakh crore, shedding over ₹1 lakh crore. So far in March, the private lender's stock has declined over 9%, putting it on track for the worst monthly fall in six years, according to Trendlyne data. Read more