Sensex crashes over 1,600 points, Nifty falls over 440 points to trade below 15,800
Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled more than 1,600 points to trade below 52,700 on Monday morning, tracking a weak trend in global equities amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slumped more than 440 points to trade below 15,800.
Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank were the major drags. While Nifty Auto was trading more than 4.50 per cent down from its previous closing, Nifty Bank tumbled more than 1,500 points or 4.36 per cent to trade below 33,000.
From the 30-share pack, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank were the biggest drag, tumbling up to 6.3 per cent.
In the previous trade, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended at 54,333.81, down by 768.87 points or 1.40 per cent. The NSE Nifty slumped 252.70 points or 1.53 per cent to end at 16,245.35.
Bourses in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo were trading significantly lower in mid-session deals. Stock exchanges in the US closed in the negative zone on Friday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude surged over 9 per cent to go above USD 130 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 7,631.02 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
“This week’s focus will be on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on oil prices. On the home front, investors will be watching the outcome of the state elections in five states on March 10,” according to Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.