The Sensex plunged 1,491 points while the Nifty slumped below the 16,000-mark on Monday, mirroring a deep sell-off in world stocks after oil prices soared to multi-year highs amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, stoking fears of hyper-inflation and sluggish growth.
A sharp drop in the rupee, which tumbled to an all-time low against the US dollar, and persistent foreign fund outflows added to the woes, traders said.
Extending its downtrend for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and slumped 1,966.71 points or 3.61 per cent to 52,367.10 during the day. It managed to recover some lost ground to end at 52,842.75, down 1,491.06 points or 2.74 per cent.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty tanked 382.20 points or 2.35 per cent to finish at 15,863.15. Both the indices closed at over seven-month lows.
In four days, the BSE benchmark has lost 3,404.53 points or 6.05 per cent.
IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra were the biggest drags on the Sensex in Monday’s session, diving up to 7.63 per cent.
Only four counters closed in the green — Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel and Infosys, rising up to 3.46 per cent.
“Oil prices surged above USD 130 a barrel for the first time since July 2008, following the risk of a US and European ban on Russia’s oil export which accounts for about 10 per cent of global supply. As a result, the domestic market along with its global peers witnessed a huge sell-off from opening hours.
“Inflationary pressure is also witnessed in other commodities like gold, aluminium, copper, etc which will eventually eat away corporate profits in the coming quarters,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said markets were rattled by the sharp surge in crude oil prices amid fear of further sanctions on Russia.
“Besides, there’s no sign of de-escalation of tension between the two nations. In short, we expect volatility to remain high and suggest keeping a close watch on global markets for cues. On the domestic front, state elections exit polls and actual results on March 10 would be actively tracked,” he noted.
The broader market also faced the brunt, with the BSE smallcap and midcap indices diving as much as 2.30 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty, bank, finance and auto finished with deep cuts, tumbling up to 5.31 per cent. Only telecom, metal, oil & gas and teck finished with gains.
As many as 2,608 stocks declined, while 849 advanced and 137 remained unchanged.
Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo settled significantly lower.
Stock exchanges in Europe too were trading in the negative zone in the afternoon session.
International oil benchmark Brent crude surged 6.08 per cent to USD 125.3 a barrel.
The rupee tanked 93 paise to close at its lifetime low of 77.10 against the US dollar on Monday.
Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 7,631.02 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
