The domestic equity indices traded with major losses in early trade as rising tensions in the Middle East dampened global risk appetite. Iran has moved to the centre of an intensifying conflict involving the United States and Israel, heightening geopolitical uncertainty.
Fresh strikes over the weekend triggered a sharp rise in crude oil prices and prompted investors to shift towards safer assets. The risk-off sentiment weighed heavily on equities, resulting in significant early losses for the benchmark indices.
The Nifty slipped below the 24,950 mark. Except for the metal index, all other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in the red.
At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 828.39 points or 1.03% to 80,448.56. The Nifty 50 index tanked 246.20 points or 0.99% to 24,938.65.
The broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 1.06% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.64%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 530 shares rose and 2,997 shares fell. A total of 181 shares were unchanged.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 7,536.36 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 12,292.81 crore in the Indian equity market on 27 February 2026, provisional data showed.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, zoomed 17.71% to 16.13.
Stocks in Spotlight:
VST Tillers Tractors fell 0.83%. The company reported a 36.04% jump in total sales to 4,435 units in February 2026, up from 3,260 units sold in February 2025.
Artefact Projects fell 2.20%. The company has secured a consultancy services contract worth Rs 3.53 crore from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The contract has been awarded by a domestic entity and will be executed over a period of 36 months.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.11 billion to $723.608 billion for the week ended February 20, according to data released on Friday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
During the reporting week, foreign currency assets (FCAs)—the largest component of the reserves—fell by $1.039 billion to $572.564 billion, the central bank said.
Gold reserves decreased by $977 million to $127.489 billion, the RBI added.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) declined by $84 million to $18.84 billion.
India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also dropped by $18 million to $4.716 billion during the week, according to the RBI data.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper rose 0.41% to 6.688 compared with the previous session close of 6.661.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 91.2750 compared with its close of 91.0800 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 2 April 2026 settlement jumped 3.17% to Rs 167,221.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.22% to 97.82.
The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.43% to 3.975.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2026 settlement jumped $4 or 5.31% to $76.74 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Asian markets traded lower on Monday after the United States and Israel launch their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. and Israeli strikes, and the Iranian retaliation, have sent shockwaves across the Middle East and through sectors from shipping to air travel to oil on warnings of rising energy costs and disruption to business in the Gulf, a strategic waterway and global trade hub.
Most Gulf equities fell on Sunday, though Boursa Kuwait suspended trading and the UAE ordered its stock markets closed on Monday, a sign of the growing economic disruption sweeping the Gulf.
Oil futures initially jumped 8% before trimming gains to about 4%. West Texas Intermediate futures last traded at $69.68, while Brent crude was at $76.13 per barrel. Gold futures jumped 2.3% as investors piled into the global safe haven.
Stock futures tumbled in overnight trading after the weekend strikes in Iran. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 517 points, or 1%. S&P 500 futures lost 1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures declined a little more than 1%.
On Friday, stocks saw a sharp sell-off after the latest producer price index data came in much hotter than expected, adding sticky inflation to a list of concerns that has caused market turbulence this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 521.28 points, or 1.05%, to close at 48,977.92. The S&P 500 closed down 0.43% at 6,878.88, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.92% to settle at 22,668.21.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished in the red for February amid growing fears about the impact of artificial intelligence on specific industries and the overall economy.
Fueling the downbeat sentiment, January’s producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, showed a 0.5% increase for the month. Media reports had suggested that the headline reading could come in at 0.3%. The core PPI reading, which excludes food and energy prices, recorded a 0.8% gain, much more than the 0.3% rise that was widely reported in the media.