SENSEX crashes 1,342 points, Market cap falls by ₹5.05 lakh crore: Key factors why equities tumbled on March 11

The SENSEX declined as much as 1,447 points, and the NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 23,834, weighed down by losses in banking and financial services heavyweight stocks. With today's loss in markets, investors wealth worth ₹5.05 lakh crore was wiped out, data from BSE showed.

The SENSEX ended 1,342 points lower at 76,864 and NIFTY50 index dropped 395 points to close at 23,867.

Gas supply disruptions raise wider concerns for economy

Indian restaurants are grappling with a severe LPG shortage due to the West Asia conflict, forcing them to innovate with menus and cooking methods or face potential closures, impacting the food industry and consumers across the country.

As the expanding war disrupts global fuel lifelines, including India's LPG supplies, the government has prioritised domestic cooking gas supply to households, leading to a supply crunch for hotels and restaurants, which use commercial LPG.

'The prospect of shuttered kitchens, lost jobs, and many people dependent on outside food forced to think about where they will get their next meal is very real,' said industry insiders as they prepare to tackle the crisis.

Closure could be just days away for many establishments, a PTI report said.

The government said that domestic LPG supply to households has been prioritised, and a 25-day inter-booking period has been introduced to prevent hoarding and black marketing.

“Non-domestic supplies from imported LPG are being prioritised to essential non-domestic sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions,” it added.

Banking shares and heavyweights come under selling pressure

Banking and financial services shares were seen exerting pressure on the benchmarks as the NIFTY Bank index dropped as much as 2.32%, or 1,319 points, to hit an intraday low of 55,632. NIFTY Financial Services, Auto, Private Bank, and PSU Bank indices also fell between 1% and 2.15%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, which was the top gainer in the NIFTY50 index in opening deals, also gave up intraday gains and fell as much as 2.71% from the day's highest level to hit an intraday low of ₹1,395.10.

Losses in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Reliance Industries collectively wiped out over 700 points from the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

Rupee near record low

The sentiment towards equities further took a knock after the Indian rupee fell 4 paise to 91.89 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by FII outflows and the unrelenting conflict in the Middle East.

However, a weaker greenback and falling global crude oil prices prevented a sharper loss in the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.92 against the US dollar before rising to 91.89, down 4 paise from its previous close.

The rupee staged a strong recovery from its record low against the US dollar on Tuesday, gaining 36 paise to settle at 91.85.

Relentless selling by FIIs

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹4,672.64 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹6,333 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth ₹33,917 crore compared with shares worth ₹22,615 bought by them in February, according to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).

US-Iran war continues

The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters issued a statement identifying the targets.

It came after Iranian media reported staff at a bank in Tehran had been killed in Israeli-American airstrikes.

The threat would put at risk, in particular, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.