It was a particularly heavy day for the Indian equity bechmarks Nifty and Sensex who logged their steepest fall since March 30. NSE Nifty 50 plunged 1.49% to close at 23,815.85 and the BSE Sensex fell 1.70% to 76,015.28.
Accordingly, investor wealth declined by about Rs 6.4 lakh crore on Monday, based on the change in the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the NSE, amid the sharp decline.
As per analysts, investor sentiment was dragged down by a mix of global and domestic cues, including the uncertain Iran war situation and Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's address regarding its impact on Sunday.
The declines came after the US President Donald Trump rejected Iran's response to a US peace proposal, raising concerns over prolonged conflict in the Persian Gulf. Domestically, markets reacted to remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging fuel conservation and restraint on gold purchases amid pressure from rising energy prices, adding to concerns around India's external balances.
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The benchmark underperformed the broader market, with the Nifty MidCap 150 and Nifty SmallCap 250 both closing lower by about 1%. Kalyan Jewellers and Swiggy led losses in the MidCap index, while Gujarat State Petronet and Jyothy Labs were among the top laggards in SmallCap stocks.
All sectoral indices closed in the red except Nifty Pharma and Nifty FMCG. Nifty Realty was the worst performer, down over 3% for the second straight session, led by sharp falls in Aditya Birla Real Estate and Godrej Properties. Nifty Pharma rose about 0.2%, extending gains for a fourth consecutive day, with Abbott and Torrent Pharma among the top gainers.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee clocked its sharpest single-day fall since March 27, decling 83 paise to settle at a record closing low of 95.31 against the US dollar. On Friday, the legal tender had settled at 94.48 per dollar.
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