Bears Reconquer Dalal Street: Sensex Crashes 1,191 Pts as West Asia War Hits Week 5; Nifty Tumbles to 22,470 Amid record FII Selling
Indian shares plummeted on Monday morning, with the Nifty 50 breaching the critical 22,650 threshold, as surging energy prices and a record-low currency prompted broad-based selling. The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 1.53% to 22,470.15 by 10:28 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 1,191.24 points, or 1.62%, to 72,391.98. Both benchmarks are on track for their worst monthly performance since September 2022, having declined nearly 9.4% in March.
- Republic Business
- 4 min read
Indian shares tumbled on Monday as surge in global crude prices and escalating West Asia tensions triggered a flight from riskier assets, hence wiping out approximately ₹7.2 lakh crore in investor wealth within the first 90 minutes of trade.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 1.53% to 22,470.15 by 10:28 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 1,191.24 points, or 1.62%, to 72,391.98. Both benchmarks are on track for their worst monthly performance since September 2022, having declined nearly 9.4% in March.
Energy shock and geopolitics
The primary catalyst remains the fifth week of the U.S.-led conflict with Iran. Brent crude futures rose 2.32% to $115.30 a barrel on Monday morning, following reports of fresh strikes targeting Iranian energy infrastructure near Kharg Island.
RBI’s Unorthodox Move Rattles Banks
Market participants were also reacting to a late-Friday directive from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank capped banks' net open currency positions at $100 million, a move designed to support the Rupee but one that is expected to force banks to unwind up to $30 billion in bets, leading to significant mark-to-market losses.
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Capital flight
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) extended their selling spree, having offloaded a record ₹1.14 lakh crore ($12.3 billion) in Indian equities so far this month. The exodus is fueled by a strengthening U.S. Dollar and surging U.S. Treasury yields as investors seek safe havens.
The Indian Rupee hit a fresh record low of 94.54 against the greenback in early trade before the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly intervened to steady the unit at 93.57.
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Sectoral laggards
Financials and high-growth sectors bore the brunt of the sell-off:
- Banking: The Nifty Bank index fell 2.67%, led by heavyweights HDFC Bank (-3.1%) and ICICI Bank (-1.7%).
- Auto: Higher input costs and fuel prices dragged the Auto index down 2.8%. Maruti Suzuki shares have now corrected 25% from their January peak.
- Defensives: TCS (+1.2%) and Reliance Industries (-3.4% but off lows) showed some relative resilience, though only 6 of the Nifty 50 components traded in the green.
The domestic rout mirrored a broader Asian sell-off. Japan’s Nikkei 225 crashed 4.3% while South Korea’s Kospi shed 2.1%. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones recently entered correction territory, closing 7.7% lower for the month as of Friday.
“After Friday's weakened close of the global markets, the announcements by the U.S. Pentagon were released, where the U.S. Marines will be stepping on foot to invade Iran. Along with this, Houthi forces have also entered the conflict with missile attacks on Israeli military sites. This surely has weakened the sentiment further because ground operations tend to sustain for a prolonged period, indicating towards a duration-based escalation of the war rather than a shorter-term shock,” said Sachin Jasuja, Head of Equities and Founding Partner, Centricity WealthTech. He added, “Pursuant to this, oil prices rose further to nearly $120 on the May futures contract, which is the key factor to track for the Indian markets, especially since we are a net importer of Crude Oil. Rupee has already been on weak levels against the U.S. dollar, which is resulting in increased foreign institutional selling as FII's have sold more than INR 1 lakh crores in the month of March itself, in the cash market segment. The Indian rupee has seen a rebound today of around 1.3% at the open after the RBI stepped in late Friday with a measure to curb speculation. RBI has asked banks to cap their net open positions in the rupee at $100 million at the end of each business day, effective April 10, a move that's likely to trigger position unwinding.”
He noted, "Global pressure remains, where Asian markets traded deep in the red and European indices remained weak as well. These are the factors that have resulted in a weaker opening session on 30th March 2026, for the Indian Stock Market."