The Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty have opened in the red on Monday due to uncertainty triggered by the collapse of US-Iran talks on Sunday. The BSE Sensex crashed 1,607.11 points, or 2.07 per cent, to 75,943.14 shortly after the open, wiping out gains from the previous session.
The index opened weak at 75,937.16 and remained under pressure with no recovery in early deals.
The broader Nifty 50 also declined 480 points or nearly 2 per cent to 23,570, with market breadth decisively negative.
According to the latest market data, 47 out of 50 constituents fell while only three were trading in positive territory.
This steepest decline came after a sell-off and rise in crude oil prices, which breached the $100-a-barrel mark on Monday amid constant disruption caused by the war in Iran.
As a major oil and energy-dependent nation importing 40 per cent from the Strait of Hormuz, the risk of economic losses looms large for Indian investors.
The pressure was triggered by a weak rupee, a strong dollar, and higher yields on US treasury bonds, which in turn also pushed the rupee towards further depreciation on Monday.
The shares of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank fell between 1.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent, dragging the indices lower.
Among the top losers were Reliance Industries, which declined over 2.6 per cent, while State Bank of India dropped more than 3 per cent, Maruti Suzuki fell nearly 3 per cent, and Larsen & Toubro dropped over 3 per cent. IT giants like Infosys, TCS, and HCLTech slipped up to 1.2 per cent.
Nearly six per cent of total constituents on Indian stock markets were trading in green, while 94 per cent were trading in red as tensions rose again between Iran and the US despite a ceasefire.
Also read: Asian markets tumble as Trump threatens Hormuz blockade
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