Mumbai, March 9: The Indian stock market experienced a significant downturn during Monday’s trading session. By the end of the day, the Sensex fell by 1,352.74 points, or 1.71%, closing at 77,566.16. The Nifty also dropped by 422.40 points, or 1.73%, ending at 24,028.05.
The decline was primarily driven by losses in the auto and banking sectors. The Nifty Auto index fell by 4.10%, while the Nifty PSU Bank index decreased by 3.97%. Other sectors, including Nifty Consumer Durable (down 2.81%), Nifty Private Bank (down 2.78%), Nifty Metal (down 2.60%), Nifty PSU (down 2.39%), Nifty Oil and Gas (down 2.37%), and Nifty India Manufacturing (down 2.36%), also saw declines. The only exception was the Nifty IT index, which managed a slight gain of 0.08%.
Both mid-cap and small-cap stocks also faced declines. The Nifty Midcap 100 index fell by 1,127.85 points, or 1.97%, closing at 56,265.50, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped by 366.70 points, or 2.22%, to end at 16,132.20.
The India VIX, which measures market volatility, surged during the session, closing up 17.50% at 23.36.
Among the major losers in the Sensex pack were Ultratech Cement, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, SBI, Indigo, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, BEL, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, Power Grid, and Bajaj Finance. Conversely, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech were among the gainers.
As a result of the market decline, the total market capitalization of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange fell by ₹8 lakh crore, decreasing from ₹449 lakh crore to ₹441 lakh crore.
The sharp market drop is attributed to rising crude oil prices. Tensions in the Middle East have led to a surge in Brent crude prices, which rose by as much as 26% on Monday, reaching $119 per barrel.
The increase in oil prices is linked to production cuts from countries like Iraq and Kuwait. Previously, Qatar had announced a reduction in LNG production.
Another factor contributing to the weakness in the Indian market is the strengthening of the dollar. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the U.S. currency against six major currencies, has reached its highest level of the year at 99.70. This strength has resulted in a depreciation of the Indian rupee.
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