Sensex tanks 1,850 pts, Nifty near 23,200; ₹7.7 trn market-cap gone

The Nifty50 and the Sensex tanked at open tracking losses in global equities as the fresh escalation in the US-Iran conflict pushed oil prices higher.

The Nifty50 was trading 2.29 per cent or 544.05 points down at 23,238.20, and the Sensex was trading 2.32 per cent or 1,776.34 points down at 74,927.

HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, and Shriram Finance were the top loser in the Nifty50 index.

HDFC Bank share price opened 8.7 per cent down at ₹770 as resignation of Chairman Atanu Chakraborty made investors jittery about management stability. However, the scrip quickly recovered from the opening lows. It was trading 4.23 per cent down at ₹807.5 per share.

The Nifty India Volatility Index surged 16.7 per cent to 21.84 shortly after opening.

Broader markets fell in line with the benchmark indices. The Nifty MidCap and the Nifty SmallCap indices were trading 2.33 per cent and 1.92 per cent down, respectively.

Sector-wise, the Nifty Realty emerged as the worst performing index among peers. The index declined 3.43 per cent as Godrej Properties and Lodha Developers were leading losses. The Nifty Media was the best-performing sectoral index with the least decline.

Brent crude rose as strikes between Israel and Iran hit the critical energy structure, fanning fears that supply disruption from the key oil-producing region could be sustained longer than expected. Brent’s May future contract was trading 3.7 per cent higher at $111.90 per barrel.

A key Qatari natural liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, which accounts for one fifth of global supply, suffered severe damage as the conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran escalated, according to Bloomberg.

Gold futures fell below the $5,000 mark as the US Fed held the rate steady and indicated an uncertain inflation outlook due to the US-Iran war. The futures were quoted at $4,848.71, down 1 per cent.

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