Sensex drops 382 points amid elevated crude prices

Benchmark stock index Sensex dropped by 382 points on Monday due to selling in metal, IT and oil and gas shares amid rising crude prices, escalation in US-Iran hostilities and fears of a US rate hike.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 382.62 points, or 0.50 per cent, to settle at 76,132.81, with 23 of its constituents ending lower and seven with gains. During the day, it declined 544.91 points, or 0.71 per cent, to a low of 75,970.52. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 118.55 points, or 0.50 per cent, to end at 23,779.15, dragged by losses in Infosys, Reliance Industries and State Bank of India.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Infosys fell the most by 3.81 per cent. Tech Mahindra fell by 1.96 per cent, Tata Steel by 1.85 per cent, Bajaj Finserv by 1.57 per cent, UltraTech Cement by 1.41 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 1.28 per cent.

Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Power Grid were among the winners.

Crude oil prices breached USD 97 per barrel due to fresh US-Iran attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. Global oil benchmark Brent crude gained more than 1 per cent to trade at $97.41 per barrel.

“Markets remained under intense selling pressure on Monday, extending the ongoing corrective phase amid persistent geopolitical concerns and fear over a possible US interest rate hike,” Ajit Mishra, SVP – research, Religare Broking.

“Indian equity markets ended lower as elevated crude oil prices and persistent geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Markets remained under pressure throughout the session amid sustained risk-off positioning,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Broader markets also declined as the BSE MidCap Select index fell 0.84 per cent, while the SmallCap Select index dropped 0.15 points. Among the BSE sectoral indices, Focused IT tanked 2.17 per cent, followed by IT (2.11 per cent), Realty (1.45 per cent), Metal (1.36 per cent), PSU Bank (1.09 per cent), Commodities (0.83 per cent) and FMCG (0.65 per cent).

Healthcare, Industrials and Telecommunication were the winners. “Indian equities ended Monday’s session lower despite a rebound in most Asian equities as rising crude prices amid escalating US-Iran conflict and renewed concerns over US interest rates weighed on sentiment. India VIX advanced 5.62 per cent, underscoring growing investor caution and expectations of heightened market volatility in the near term,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said.