Sensex crashes 451 points, Nifty below 22,330 amid global sell-off

The Indian stock market opened sharply lower on Tuesday, March 11, as IT, mid and small-cap financial services, and telecom stocks saw significant declines. At 9:25 AM, the BSE Sensex was down 451 points (0.61%) at 73,693, while the NSE Nifty fell 132.95 points (0.59%) to 22,327.35. The broader market followed the downtrend, with major indices reflecting negative sentiment.

Among the biggest losers, IndusInd Bank plunged 10% to ₹810.55, followed by Zomato, which fell 2.01% to ₹206.95, and Tata Steel, which declined 1.95% to ₹148.00. On the sectoral front, the Nifty IT Index recorded the steepest drop of 1.82%, reaching 36,960.15. The Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom Index also fell 1.49% to 8,667.05, while Nifty Midsmall Financial Services declined 0.99% to 13,480.60.

The downturn came amid weak global cues, with Asian markets tracking losses from Wall Street. US markets closed lower after comments from former President Donald Trump raised concerns about potential economic slowdowns. Investors remained cautious, awaiting key economic data, including US and India CPI and India’s IIP figures, which could influence market movements later this week.

During the previous trading session on Monday, March 10, the Sensex had closed 217.41 points lower at 74,115.17, while the Nifty declined 92.20 points to 22,460.30. Analysts pointed to concerns over falling US stock futures, renewed fears of trade tensions, and weak Asian market performance. Kunal Kamble, Senior Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza, noted that “Nifty faced resistance and formed a shooting star candlestick pattern, indicating bearish sentiment.” He added that "option data suggests the index is likely to trade below 22,300 and is unlikely to move beyond 22,000 in today’s session."

Among individual stocks, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 0.41%, ICICI Bank edged up by 0.03%, and Kotak Mahindra Bank remained flat, making them the only Sensex stocks in positive territory. In the Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom Index, Birlasoft dropped 5.74%, Tejas Networks fell 5.60%, and HFCL declined 4.75%. In the Nifty Realty Index, Mahindra Lifespace Developers saw the biggest loss at 6.91%, followed by Raymond (-3.79%) and DLF (-3.61%).

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading ₹485.41 crore worth of equities, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing shares worth ₹263.51 crore. Meanwhile, global oil prices edged lower, with Brent Crude down 0.10% at $69.21 per barrel for May contracts and WTI Crude falling 0.21% to $65.89 per barrel for April contracts.