Market opening: SENSEX plunges 1,030 pts, NIFTY50 at 22,513 as US-Iran war enters 5th week; Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank top losers

The Indian benchmark indices began the week on a negative note on Monday, March 30, tracking weak cues from Asian markets, as the US-Iran conflict entered its fifth week. The market investors’ sentiment remained cautious amid continued foreign fund outflows from the Indian equity market.

US President Donald Trump on Monday declared that American forces had struck “many long-sought-after targets” in Iran as the Pentagon surged thousands of troops to the Middle East, raising tensions across an already volatile region.

The broader market also opened with sharp cuts as the Nifty Midcap 100 lost 1.71% while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 2.1%.

Except for Nifty Metal (0.28%), all the sectoral gauges opened lower. Nifty Private Bank (-2.59%), Nifty PSU Bank (-2.52), Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.86%), Nifty Realty (-1.8%) and Nifty Pharma (-1.21%) were the top losing sectors.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices continued to rise in the global market, hovering near $108 per barrel (bbl) as of the early market hours on Monday as the US-Iran conflict entered its fifth week.

The rupee rebounded 128 paise from its all-time low on Monday to 93.57 against the US dollar in early trade.

According to exchange data, on Friday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹4,367.30 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,566.15 crore on a net basis.

So far in March, the foreign investors have pulled out ₹1.14 lakh crore from the Indian equity market—its worst monthly outflow, amid escalating tensions in West Asia, a weakening rupee and rising crude oil prices.

On the global front, the Asian markets were trading sharply lower on Monday as geopolitical tensions escalated after reports suggested that United States President Donald Trump raised an idea that American forces could seize Iran's Kharg island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

Japan's Nikkei crashed 4.6%, South Korea's KOSPI fell 4%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.92%.

Last week, US stocks ended lower on Friday as Wall Street finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest losing streak in nearly four years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.73%, the S&P 500 index fell 1.67% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 2.15%.

Market statistics

As many as 2,913 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 834 advanced, 2,014 declined, and 65 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth is favourable towards declines.

Meanwhile, 11 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 739 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 19 stocks hit their upper circuits, while 101 hit their lower circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading at 28.28 levels, declining 5.49%.

Top gainers and losers

As many as 45 stocks declined, while 5 were trading in the green during the opening session on the NIFTY50 index.

Axis Bank was the biggest laggard, plunging 3.8%, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank (-3.39%), Max Healthcare (-2.45%), SBI Life Insurance (-2.32%) and Bajaj Finserv (-2.25%).

On the contrary, Hindalco Industries (2.88%), ONGC (1.83%), Coal India (1.61%), Bharat Electronics (1.31%), and Reliance Industries (0.5%) were the only gainers.