The Indian stock market ended lower on Monday as Sensex and Nifty fell on rising crude oil prices, escalating US-Iran tensions and concerns over a possible interest rate hike in the United States weighed on investor sentiment. Persistent geopolitical uncertainty kept investors cautious and triggered a risk-off approach across domestic equities.
Key Highlights
- Indian stock market closed down with the Sensex down 382 points and the Nifty down 118 points.
- FII selling, fears of rising US-Iran tensions and worries over rising rates in the U.S. dampened investors' spirits on Monday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 382.62 points, or 0.50%, to settle at 76,132.81. During the trading session, the index fell as much as 544.91 points, or 0.71%, to hit 75,970.52. The NSE Nifty50 index was also under the pressure, falling 118.55 points or 0.50% to settle at 23,779.15.
Stock Market Today: Major Movers
Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement and Tata Consultancy Services were the worst performers among the 30 Sensex stocks. Meanwhile, the other stocks that went up during the day included Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Maruti.
Oil benchmark Brent crude, the global price benchmark, climbed 0.61% to USD 96.87 per barrel, further fueling worries about inflation and corporate expenses. The higher crude prices are more important for India because it depends largely on imports to meet its energy needs.
“Stock market today ended lower as elevated crude oil prices and persistent geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on investor sentiment,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money. He added that markets remained under pressure through the session amid continued risk-off positioning among investors.
Also Read: Weekly Stock Market: Nifty and Sensex Fall for Fourth Straight Week
Global Markets and FII Activity
Across Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose 4.61%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 2.12%. The SSE Composite index in Shanghai rose slightly while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell.
Stocks in Europe were mixed, and stocks in the US had closed down on Friday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) meanwhile, appeared to maintain their conservative stance on Indian equities. The exchanges reveal that FIIs offloaded shares valued at Rs 3,111.94 crore on Friday.
Investors will be closely watching oil prices and the US-Iran conflict, as well as the signals from the US monetary policy, and foreign fund flows, for additional cues on where the Indian stock market will be headed in the coming days with crude oil prices remaining high and geopolitical tensions increasing the uncertainty in the world.
