The domestic equity benchmarks traded with deep cuts in the afternoon, as the escalating war between Iran and the U.S.-Israel alliance reignited a surge in crude oil prices, weighing on global market sentiment. The Nifty traded below the 22,550 mark. Realty shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.
At 12:26 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,043.46 points or 1.42% to 72,539.76. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 307.80 points or 1.35% to 22,510.80.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 1.71% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 1.90%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 921 shares rose and 3,283 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.04% to 28.16. The Nifty 30 March 2026 futures were trading at 22,676.60, at a discount of 165.80 points as compared with the spot at 22,510.80.
The Nifty option chain for the 28 April 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 33.5 lakh contracts at the 24,000 strike price. The maximum put OI of 45.2 lakh contracts was seen at 23,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index fell 2.13% to 655.90. The index dropped 5.23% in the two consecutive trading sessions.
Brigade Enterprises (down 6.58%), Anant Raj (down 4.44%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 4.12%), Lodha Developers (down 3.17%), DLF (down 3.12%), Sobha (down 2.78%), Godrej Properties (down 1.99%), Oberoi Realty (down 0.84%) and Aditya Birla Real Estate (down) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
CMS Info Systems added 0.46%. The company’s board approved the acquisition of operating assets related to the ATM Management solutions business of Financial Software and Systems (FSS) along with novation of customer contracts.
KNR Constructions surged 8.75% after the company announced the receipt of a project award from the National Highways Authority of India.