Benchmark stock market indices tanked in early trade on Monday, tracking global markets over escalating tensions in the Middle East as US attacked Iran.
IT stocks were major laggards, dragging the market down.
by 791.58 points to 81,616.59, while the NSE Nifty lost 244.25 points to 24,868.15 as of 9:53 am.
Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said that even though the US bombing of Iran’s three nuclear facilities has worsened the crisis in West Asia, the impact on the market is likely to be limited.
“The uncertain factor now is the timing and nature of the Iranian response. If Iran targets and damage the US defence facilities in the region or hurts US military personnel seriously, the US response can be huge and this might further worsen the crisis,” he added.
Bharat Electronics Limited led the few gainers with a 1.64% jump, followed by Bharti Airtel up 0.39%. However, the market opened with widespread selling pressure.
On the losing side, Infosys crashed 2.01% to lead the decliners, followed by Hindustan Unilever falling 1.64%, Asian Paints down 1.30%, HCL Technologies declining 1.24%, and PowerGrid slipping 1.19%.
The broader market indices opened weak with Nifty Midcap 100 falling 0.26%, Nifty Smallcap down 0.22%, while India VIX surged 4.86%. Only one sector managed to open in positive territory – Nifty Media gained 0.18%.
Most other sectors opened in the red. Nifty IT led the decline with a 1.26% fall, followed by Nifty Auto down 0.91%, Nifty Financial Services falling 0.84%, Nifty FMCG declining 0.84%, Nifty Private Bank down 0.74%, Nifty Realty slipping 0.55%, Nifty Healthcare falling 0.49%, Nifty Oil & Gas declining 0.46%, Nifty Pharma down 0.37%, Nifty Consumer Durables slipping 0.37%, Nifty Metal falling 0.33%, and Nifty PSU Bank declining 0.27%.