Rs 13 lakh cr wiped out as Sensex sinks 1,800 pts

Mumbai, March 23: Indian stock markets experienced a significant downturn on Monday, with Sensex and Nifty both plummeting. This sharp selloff, wiping out substantial market capitalization, was driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, a weakening rupee, and broad-based losses across all sectors. Investors reacted negatively as major indices and most individual stocks traded in the red.

Indian stock markets tumbled on Monday, with the Sensex plunging over 1,800 points and the Nifty falling below the crucial 22,550 level, as escalating tensions between Iran and the US, a weakening rupee, and other factors weighed on investor sentiment.

At 10:25 am, the Sensex was down 1,803 points at 72,784, while the Nifty 50 slipped to 22,538. The sharp selloff wiped off nearly Rs 13 lakh crore from the total market capitalisation of all BSE-listed companies, bringing it down to Rs 416 lakh crore.

All 30 constituents of Sensex were trading in the red, with Tata Steel, State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Titan and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) falling 2-3% and leading losses on the benchmark index.

On NSE, all sectoral indices were in the red. Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank indices were the top sectoral losers, falling more than 3% on Monday morning. Nearly 2,328 stocks declined on the stock exchange, while 249 advanced and 74 remained unchanged.

Incidentally, today’s market crash comes on the sixth anniversary of the infamous March 23, 2020, crash, which saw the Nifty 50 plunge 13% in a single day. Stock markets had plunged on that day as the Indian government imposed a nationwide lockdown in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 virus.