The key equity benchmarks traded with significant losses in early afternoon trade, due to negative global signals. Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East raised concerns about potential disruptions to energy supplies and their impact on global economic growth. Investor sentiment also remained cautious amid a weakening rupee and a spike in market volatility, with the volatility index rising over 14%. Market participants largely adopted a risk-off approach, resulting in broad-based selling pressure across sectors. The Nifty slipped below the 22,550 mark. Realty shares extended losses for the three consecutive trading session.
At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 1,917.08 points or 2.57% to 72,644.23. The Nifty 50 index plunged 626.95 points or 2.71% to 22,511.95.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index dropped 3.88% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index slipped 4.06%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 536 shares rose and 3,721 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.
The rupee slipped against the dollar, hovering at 93.9025 versus its previous close of 93.5350, pressured by rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and concerns over energy supply disruptions.
US-Iran Warfare
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to intensify, keeping global investors cautious as the war enters its fourth week, raising concerns about energy security and global economic stability.
According to the chief of the International Energy Agency (IEA), nearly 40 energy assets ‘severely damaged' in conflict; warns of ‘worst’ crisis.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump warned the US will “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, In response, Iran stated that any such military action would be met with retaliatory strikes targeting U.S. and Israeli energy and infrastructure facilities in the region.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term rallied 17.34% to 26.17. The Nifty 30 March 2026 futures were trading at 22,511.20, at a discount of 0.75 points as compared with the spot at 22,511.95.
The Nifty option chain for the 30 March 2026 expiry showed a maximum call OI of 39.5 lakh contracts at the 23,500 strike price. Maximum put OI of 47.7 lakh contracts was seen at 22,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index fell 4.44% to 665.45. The index tumbled 8.94% in the three consecutive trading session.
Lodha Developers (down 5.92%), Sobha(down 5.54%), SignatureGlobal India (down 4.83%), Anant Raj (down 4.49%) and Phoenix Mills (down 4.21%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 4.12%), DLF (down 3.65%), Godrej Properties (down 3.45%), Oberoi Realty (down 3.29%) and Brigade Enterprises(down 2.55%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Airfloa Rail Technology fell 2.55%. The company said that it has secured a Rs 22.91 crore contract from BEML for supplying lighting systems for metro coaches under Phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail Project.
IFGL Refractories slipped 4.31%. The company resumed operations at its Kandla manufacturing facility in Gujarat.
The facility had earlier faced disruption due to a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), following the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region and government directives prioritising domestic LPG supply. The disruption had led to a temporary halt in certain production lines dependent on LPG. The company has now restored operations, with all product lines at the Kandla unit becoming fully functional.
Solarium Green Energy fell 1.39%. The company has received domestic orders aggregating approximately Rs 22.5 crore for the supply of high-efficiency solar panels across multiple states in southern India.