SENSEX drops nearly 900 points, NIFTY50 below 24,400 as crude oil spike, rupee fall dents sentiment

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap down opening on Monday, May 18, as investor sentiment was dented after renewed tensions in West Asia triggered an up move in crude oil while the Indian rupee hit a new against the US dollar. The SENSEX fell as much as 892 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 23,371 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid.

As of 9:23 am, the SENSEX fell 783 points to 74,454 and NIFTY50 index dropped 232 points to 23,410.

Brent Crude moved above $110 per barrel after war in Iran dragged on for another week and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz showed no signs of progress.

Back home, falling rupee against the US dollar added to worries of investors. The rupee fell as much as 22 paise to 96.18 against the US dollar amid rising crude oil and exodus of foreign flows from the country.

FIIs have so far this year sold shares worth ₹2,19,017 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Back home, selling pressure was broad based as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), barring the measure of IT shares, were trading lower led by the NIFTY Realty index's 2.6% fall. NIFTY Consumer Durables, PSU Bank, Auto, Metal, Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank and FMCG indices also dropped between 1.3% and 2.4%.

Broader markets were also witnessing selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index dropped 1.35% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index plunged 1.66%.

Tata Steel was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 3.86% to ₹208 after its March quarter earnings failed to impress investors.

Tata Steel posted a 125% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit at ₹2,926 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2026 (Q4 FY26) on Friday. In the corresponding period last year, the firm had clocked a profit of ₹1,301 crore.

The country's second-largest steelmaker's total revenue from operations stood at ₹63,270 crore, growing 12.5% YoY in Q4 FY26, compared to ₹56,218 crore in the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q4 FY25).

Power Grid, Maruti Suzuki, Trent, Shriram Finance, Eternal, Titan, Eicher Motors and State Bank of India also dropped between 2% and 3.5%.

On the flip side, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Wipro were among the notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,386 shares were trading lower while 465 were advancing on the NSE.