Sensex, Nifty Extend Crash, Tracking A Sell-Off In Global Risk Assets

Equity benchmarks extended their losses for the fourth straight session, as there was no let-up in the mayhem in global financial markets on Monday on fears of faster inflation and global recession continued to weigh significantly on investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex index tanked 953.70 points, or 1.64 per cent, to end at 57,145.22, and the NSE Nifty tumbled 311.05 points, or 1.8 per cent, to close on Monday at 17,016.30 after both the benchmarks had crashed by similar margins on Friday.

At one point during the day, the Nifty index plunged below 17,000 points, and the Sensex fell more than 1,000 points.

Maruti, Tata Steel, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, and IndusInd Bank were the top laggards among the 30-share Sensex group.

The winners included HCL Technologies, Infosys, Asian Paints, TCS, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, and Nestle.

A global stock markets gauge traded close to its lowest level since the pandemic-led crash in 2020 as mining and energy companies suffered, driven by the drop in prices of metals and oil due to worries that demand would decline as economies slowed from higher borrowing rates around the world.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan was down 1.4 per cent to a two-year low and heading for its worst month since March 2020.

US futures wavered, and European shares declined after entering a bear market on Friday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, which acts as a "fear barometer" for Wall Street, climbed to a three-month high on Friday, underscoring the market worry.

"We're in a period of global gloom, with pessimism blanketing different countries for different reasons," said Ed Yardeni, president of his eponymous research firm, who warned of growing storm clouds for the US economy, told Bloomberg.

"The latest data jibe with our growth recession scenario, but the risks of a full-blown recession are obviously increasing," he wrote in a note Monday.