SENSEX drops over 700 points, NIFTY50 trades below 23,700 as crude tops $100 per barrel

The Indian equity benchmarks nosedived on Friday, July 24, as investors turned cautious after Brent Crude surpassed above $100 per barrel and President Donald Trump imposed new double-digit tariffs on dozens of US trading partners.

The SENSEX fell as much as 777 points and NIFTY50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 23,700.

As of 9:29 am, the SENSEX was down 558 points at 75,832 and NIFTY50 index declined 159 points to 23698

US military launched the 13th night of strikes Thursday against Iran, targeting key military and commercial sites as clashes continued to escalate over shipping routes. The attacks came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped $100 a barrel.

Markets across Asia were trading lower as Japan's Nikkei fell 3.16%, China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.3% and South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 5.56%.

Back home, selling pressure was broad based as all the 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), barring the measure of FMCG shares, were trading lower led by the NIFTY Realty index's 1.5% fall. NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Metal, Auto, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.75% and 1.2%.

Broader markets were also facing selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 and NIFTY Smallcap 100 indices dropped 0.8% each.

Shriram Finance was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 2.76% to ₹997. Bajaj Finance, InterGlobe Aviation, Eternal, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy's Labs, Eicher Motors, Tata Motors PV and Mahindra & Mahindra also fell between 1.5% and 2.4%.

On the flip side, Cipla, HCL Technologies, Nestle India, Tata Consumer Products, TCS, HDFC Life and Sun Pharma were notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,299 shares were declining while 559 were advancing on the NSE.