Sensex slumps 800 pts; Nifty trades below 23,850 mark; VIX rallies 9.36%
The Nifty traded below the 23,850 mark. Barring the realty index, all other sectoral indices on the BSE traded in the red.
At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 799.82 points or 1.03% to 76,750.43. The Nifty 50 index declined 240.85 points or 1.10% to 23,809.75.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index slipped 0.56% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.33%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,692 shares rose and 2,535 shares fell. A total of 202 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 9.36% to 20.62.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2026 settlement rose $6.75 or 7.09% to $101.95 a barrel.
Gainers & Losers:
HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 2.95%), Adani Enterprises (up 2.47%), NTPC (up 1.99%), Max Healthcare Institute (up 1.09%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.97%) were the major Nifty50 gainers.
Maruti Suzuki India (down 4.70%), Eicher Motors (down 4.36%), Bajaj Finance (down 2.74%), Reliance Industries (down 2.73%) and Jio Financial Services (down 2.41%) were the major Nifty50 losers.
Adani Enterprises gained 2.47% after the company announced that its step-down wholly owned subsidiary, Adani Airport City, has incorporated four new wholly owned subsidiaries.
Stocks in Spotlight:
GHV Infra Projects rose 2.41% after the company entered into a construction contract worth Rs 1,250 crore with APCO Infratech for infrastructure development in Maharashtra.
Enviro Infra Engineers surged 15.68% after the company secured two major engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts from the Swachh Maharashtra Mission Directorate, with a combined value of Rs 972.19 crore.
Lupin shed 0.67%. The company announced the launch of Dapagliflozin Tablets in strengths of 5 mg and 10 mg in the United States, following approval of its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Global Markets:
European stock markets opened lower on Monday, with investors assessing weekend talks between the U.S. and Iran which failed to yield a permanent ceasefire, as well as President Donald Trump?s threat to begin an immediate blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Asian markets traded lower, as investors weigh a U.S. naval blockade on Iran?s ports after talks between Washington and Tehran failed to produce an agreement to end the conflict in the Middle East.
The breakdown of negotiations over the weekend in Islamabad reignited worries that the U.S.-Iran war will last longer than feared, leading to higher oil prices that will continue to strain economies worldwide.
Crude oil prices surged on Sunday after the talks ended without an agreement and the U.S. moved toward a blockade of Iranian port traffic. Brent crude reportedly gained 6.71% to $101.59 per barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has reportedly weighed resuming airstrikes on Iran, according to a media report.
Trump last week agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday in exchange for Tehran allowing ships to pass through the strait. He had previously threatened to bomb every bridge and power plant in Iran.
Last week, the Dow industrials ended a strong week on a down note after inflation came in at its highest level in nearly two years.
The March CPI report showed prices rose 0.9% from a month earlier and 3.3% from a year earlier?the largest annual increase since May 2024.
Consequently, U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday. The Dow falling about 269.23 points, or 0.56%, to 47,916.57 and the S&P 500 lost 7.77 points, or 0.11%, to 6,816.89. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite index gained 80.48 points, or 0.35%, to 22,902.89.
With consumer prices, nearly three-quarters of the monthly increase was driven by higher gasoline prices. Food inflation came in lower, and overall, the readings were in line with economists? expectations.
Consumer sentiment, meanwhile, fell in April to the lowest level in the history of the University of Michigan survey, showing Americans' heightened concerns about the Iran war hitting the domestic economy.
