Stock market opened with decline amid signs of intensification of US-Iran war, Sensex and Nifty slipped 2 percent

Mumbai, 2 April. After the spectacular rise of the previous trading day (Wednesday), the Indian stock market once again opened in the red with a big fall on Thursday amid signs of intensification of the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and in early trade, both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty recorded a decline of more than 2 percent. The 30-share BSE Sensex opened 872.27 points or 1.19 per cent lower at 72,262.05, while the NSE Nifty opened 296 points or 1.31 per cent lower at 22,383.40. The Bank Nifty index opened 823 points or 1.60 per cent lower at 50,625.65.

Till the time of writing the news (around 9:29 am), Sensex was trading at 71,746.21, down 1.90 percent or 1388.11 points, while Nifty50 was trading at 22,240, down 1.94 percent or 439.40 points. During this period, all Nifty indices were seen trading in red. In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 2.77 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index fell 2.82 per cent.

At the same time, sector-wise, all the regional indices recorded a decline, in which Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metals, Nifty Private Bank and other indices fell by more than 2 percent, while Nifty FMCG saw the lowest decline of 1.46 percent and Nifty IT saw the lowest decline of 0.38 percent. During this period, all the shares of Nifty 50 were seen trading in the red, in which the shares of Sun Pharma, Indigo, Eternal, L&T, Asian Paints, Shriram Finance, MaxHealth, SBI and M&M recorded the biggest decline.

It is noteworthy that this fall in the stock market has come after the statement of the US President in which he said that America will hit Iran hard in the next two to three weeks, which dashed the hopes of an early ceasefire in the Middle East. He also said that negotiations were ongoing with Tehran and that the war would probably not last much longer. These contradictory statements created further panic among traders.

Crude oil prices surged after Trump’s speech, with Brent crude rising more than 4 percent to above $105 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate rose 3 percent to above $103 a barrel. Market experts say keeping a close eye on crude oil movements, FII activities and further developments in West Asia, markets are likely to be volatile and subject to changes based on events.