Sensex Crashes 1,720 Points, Nifty Trades Below 15,800 Mainly Dragged By Banks, Auto

New Delhi: The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday started trade with sharp cuts amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Downbeat international sentiment, Brent Crude trading at $130 a barrel, and global shares sank as the risk of a US and European ban on Russian oil and delays in Iranian talks triggered what was shaping up as a major stagflationary shock for global markets.

At 9.45 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex was at 52,614, down 17,20 points, while the NSE Nifty moved 447 points lower to 15,797.

Koo App

At 10 a.m., Sensex was 2.79 per cent or 1,515.98 points down at 52,817.83 points from its previous close. The #Nifty50 traded lower by 2.83 per cent or 459.95 points down at 15,785.40 points.

View attached media content

- IANS (@IANS) 7 Mar 2022

The 30-share constituents on the BSE platform were all trading in the negative zone.

Midcap and smallcap shares were trading in the negative zone as Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 2.62 per cent up and small-cap shares shed 2.41 per cent.

Most of the sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the red. Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank were underperforming the index by falling as much as 4.38 per cent and 3.69 per cent, respectively, in early trade. However, Nifty Metal moved as much as 0.47 per cent higher.

On the Sensex, top laggards were ICIC Bank, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, L&T, and Asian Paints, down up to 5 per cent. On the Nifty, Eicher Motors, Britannia, and Tata Motors were the additional losers.

On the flip side, a handful of stocks that managed to start in the green zone included metal and energy shares, including Coal India, ONGC, Tata Steel, and Hindalco, up to 2.5 per cent.

Among stocks, JK Cement was trading 5 per cent lower on the bourses. The company had announced its foray into paints business through a new subsidiary.

In the previous session on Friday, Sensex had dived 769 points (1.40 per cent) to close at 54,334 on Friday; while Nifty had moved 253 points (1.53 per cent) lower to settle at 16,245.